december-2009

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Dec. 

GIRLS OF SUMMER 

Three Chicagoans vie for the 

very fi rst Olympic medals for 

women’s boxing when the sport debuts 

in 2012. Do they have what it takes? 

BY TRICIA DESPRES 

PHOTOGRAPHS BY THOMAS CHADWICK 

74 

82 

CRAZY TOURIST 

Gabriel Orozco travels the 

world creating conceptual art 

that he hopes will disappoint viewers. 

Fortunately for us, it doesn’t. 

BY AARON GELL 

PORTRAITS BY FIONA ABOUD 

The Riviera Maya has grown into a 

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88 

THREE PERFECT DAYS: 

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BY MIKE GUY 

PHOTOGRAPHS BY EHREN JOSEPH 

UNITED.COM | HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM 

contents 

The cliffside cabañas 

of Azulik, in Tulum YOUR COMPLIMENTARY COPY

DECEMBER 2009 | UNITED.COM 

45 

12 Contributors 

departments 

15 Voices United President John 

Tague goes back to basics. 

18 Connections United’s world gets 

bigger every day. 

20 Wish You Were Here 

DISPATCHES 

23 Notes From All Over Down the tubes 

at Las Vegas’ CityCenter; Tattoo 

tours are the talk of Stockholm; Los 

Angeles’ newest It-boy directs the 

philharmonic; performance artists 

in Istanbul seek people with retail 

experience; eating with your cabbie 

in Buenos Aires 

DIRECTIONS 

29 News Where to stay, what to see, 

when to go 

35 Goods Gizmos and gear 

43 

39 Whereabouts Mystery writer P.D. 

James uncovers Boston’s charm. 

40 Whirlwind Five hours in Phoenix 

CULTURE 

43 Diamond Anniversary 

Cartier celebrates 100 years of 

whimsical, over-the-top jewelry. 

By Sarah Horne 

COVER IMAGE Laura Carlin // heartagency.com 

52 

44 Teen Spirit Fourteen-year-old 

Talia Leman has an impressive 

list of extracurriculars: swimming, 

soccer and running a nonprofi t 

that’s helped kids in 20 countries. 

By Layla Schlack 

46 Do You Hear What I Hear? Big 

names like Bob Dylan and Sting 

aren’t likely to change holiday 

music’s reputation. And that’s 

just fi ne. // By K. Leander Williams 

48 The Next Dimension Avatar could 

make 3-D the norm for Hollywood, 

but don’t expect paper glasses. 

By Adam K. Raymond 

50 Dream Machine Apple’s top-secret 

new release, a tablet, is generating 

more hype than, well, the last 

Apple release. 

By Alyssa Giacobbe 

52 Living Large Not just for decoration, 

a slew of new coffee table books are 

tantamount to a trip around the 

world. // By Aaron Gell 

55 Ice Capades For the NHL, getting 

locked out of network television 

has led to an online revolution. 

By Bryant Urstadt 

59 The Incredible Shrinking Plate 

Tapas hotshot José Andrés is 

rendering the entrée obsolete. 

By Adam Baer 

44 

63 Parental Guidance Rife with 

indiscriminate product placement, 

are mommy blogs really the place 

to turn for expert advice? 

By Sarah Wildman 

69 Ramblin’ Man The only downside 

to a lifetime of traveling is chronic 

antsiness. // By Martin Marks 

73 Artifact A souvenir from the fi eld 

PLAY 

117 Movies, television and audio 

programming 

128 Route Maps and Terminal 

Diagrams 

140 Crossword, sudoku and quiz 

146 In Transit Who’s sitting next 

to you? 

147 Beverages & Food 

WRITE TO US: 

Hemispheres.ed@ink-publishing.com 

HEMISPHERES MAGAZINE 

68 Jay St. Suite 315, Brooklyn, NY 11201 

SUBSCRIBE TO HEMISPHERES 

For a free subscription to our monthly 

eMag and to access recent issues, go to 

HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM 

40 

FROM LEFT: PHOTOGRAPHS BY NICK WELSH/COURTESY OF CARTIER, CLAIRE BENOIST, SANDRA L. DYAS

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12 comments 

Feeling the Love 

It’s been six months since Hemispheres was relaunched. If the response so 

far is any indication, we’re on the right track. 

THEY’RE SINGING OUR PRAISES ON BLOGS: 

“ If you think about it, [an infl ight]—done right—has the potential to publish only 

really fascinating, enlightening writing: the world is its topic, and after all, it has 

a kind of captive audience. United’s Hemispheres...keeps me awake, and makes 

me learn things I didn’t know before. Yesterday, when I realized I’d get to read a 

different issue of Hemispheres than the one on the plane I took to New Zealand 

last month, I actually got a little bit excited. I haven’t felt that way about reading 

a women’s magazine in years.”—JENNA, Jezebel.com 

“ Mags We Heart...United’s Hemispheres is smart, voice-y, and well-designed—not 

to mention stocked with excellent stories. After a grueling fashion week, Chic is 

downright invigorated.”—CHIC REPORT, FashionWeekDaily.com 

THEY’RE FLOODING OUR INBOXES: 

“ This is the fi rst issue that I actually read more than one paragraph of an article… 

and one I look forward to reading cover to cover.... So, as I near my millionth mile 

in the sky (aboard, you guessed it, United), I’ll look forward to more installments of 

Hemispheres.”—NANCY HOBBS, Executive Director, American Trail Running Association 

“ As much as I complain about traveling so much for work—I do it a lot—I found 

my most recent trip quite enjoyable once I picked up Hemispheres. Just about 

every article was relevant, interesting and thought-provoking.” 

—CATHLEEN FLAHARDY, Editor in chief, InsideCounsel magazine 

AND THEY’RE OFFERING UP COMMENTS AT HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM: 

In response to “To Hall and Back” (November 2009): “What a great article! I love 

Cooperstown, and you have captured your love of baseball wonderfully.” 

? 

WHAT DO YOU THINK? 

WRITE TO US: Hemispheres.ed@ink-publishing.com 

HEMISPHERES MAGAZINE 68 Jay St. Suite 315, Brooklyn, NY 11201 

Contributors 

FIONA ABOUD Aboud, 

who photographed 

Gabriel Orozco (page 

82), has shot for 

Sports Illustrated 

and Time. She’s 

currently working 

on a photo essay 

called “Sikhs in 

America.” “Each 

project fi lls my life 

with amazing new 

people,” she says. 

BRYANT URSTADT The 

author of The Greatest 

Hockey Stories Ever 

Told: The Finest Writers 

on the Ice is also a 

frequent contributor 

to ESPN The Magazine. 

The die-hard hockey 

fan (page 55) says the 

greatest player ever 

is “a tie between my 

cousin Clem and my 

cousin-in-law Peter.” 

SARAH WILDMAN A 

travel, culture and 

opinion writer for The 

New York Times and 

The Guardian, Wildman 

says she could see 

becoming a mom 

blogger (page 63). “I’ve 

got a nine-month-old 

daughter, Orli,” she 

says. “We’ve been on a 

breast-feeding tour of 

the world.” 

HEMISPHERES 

EDITOR IN CHIEF Aaron Gell 

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Mike Guy 

ASSOCIATE EDITORS Adam K. Raymond, 

Layla Schlack 

ART DIRECTOR Rob Hewitt 

DESIGNER Ellie Clayman 

PHOTO EDITOR Erin Giunta 

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS 

Jane Black, Jason Fine, Jason Gay, 

Sarah Horne, Edward Lewine, 

Willa Paskin, Matt Thompson 

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS 

Claire Benoist, Spencer Heyfron, 

John Lawton, Graham Roumieu 

EDITORIAL INTERNS 

Lizbette Ocasio-Russe 

GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR 

Michael Keating 

US EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Orion Ray-Jones 

INK PUBLISHING, 68 Jay Street, 

Suite 315, Brooklyn, NY 11201 

TEL: +1 347-294-1220 FAX: +1 917-591-6247 

Hemispheres.ed@ink-publishing.com 

hemispheresmagazine.com 

ONLINE TEAM Salah Lababidi, 

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ADVERTISING 

U.S. GROUP PUBLISHING DIRECTOR 

Steve Andrews 

SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGERS 

Al Loise, Catherine Hanson, 

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INK PUBLISHING 

CEO Jeffrey O’Rourke 

COO Hugh Godsal 

PUBLISHING DIRECTOR Simon Leslie 

HEMISPHERES is produced monthly by 

Ink Publishing. All material is strictly copyright 

and all rights are reserved. No part of this 

publication may be reproduced in whole or part 

without the prior written permission of the 

copyright holder. All prices and data are correct 

at the time of publication. Opinions expressed 

in HEMISPHERES are not necessarily those of the 

Publisher or United Airlines, and United Airlines 

does not accept any responsibility for 

advertising content. Any images are supplied 

at the owner’s risk. Any mention of United 

Airlines or the use of United Airlines logo by 

any advertiser in this publication does not imply 

endorsement of that company or its products or 

services by United Airlines.

NASDAQ GRMN 

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ALL MEMBERS CAN 

REDEEM MILES FOR: 

• Hotel stays 

• Car rentals 

• Air travel awards 

Now you can use 

your miles in more ways 

than ever before. 

Easily redeem your miles for hotels and cars. 

Mileage Plus ® 

now lets all members turn miles into hotel stays 

and car rentals. Visit united.com/hotelandcarawards 

now to book your travel. 

© 2009 United Air Lines, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms and conditions: Hotel and car awards are available to all Mileage Plus ® 

members. United reserves the right to revise member eligibility at any time. Each 

member must have sufficient Mileage Plus miles in his or her account to complete the entire transaction. Redemptions may only be made from a single account per transaction. Redemptions for hotel stays and 

car rentals are non-refundable. Additional taxes and fees may apply. For full terms and conditions visit united.com/hotelandcarawards. Miles redeemed under the Mileage Plus Hotel and Car Awards Program 

are subject to the rules of the United Mileage Plus program. United Saver Awards are currently redeemable at 25,000 miles within the U.S. (excluding Hawaii) and Canada, United Standard Awards are currently 

redeemable at 50,000 miles within the U.S. (excluding Hawaii) and Canada. Taxes and fees related to award travel are the responsibility of the passenger. United, its subsidiaries, affiliates and agents are not 

responsible for any products and services of any participating companies and partners. United and Mileage Plus are registered services marks. For complete details about the Mileage Plus program, visit united.com.

PHOTOGRAPH BY UNITED AIRLINES CREATIVE SERVICES 

Running a 

Good Airline 

United is rededicating itself 

to its core mission and is focused 

on keeping a steady course in 

turbulent times. // BY ROD O’CONNOR 

HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM | DECEMBER 2009 

voices 15 

TOUGH TIMES CAN PRESENT AN OPPORTUNITY to sharpen focus on what’s 

important for the long haul. United is doing just that, says United 

Airlines President John Tague. For the last year, the company has 

been executing against a back-to-basics agenda designed to improve 

performance and competitiveness, and ultimately to make it an industryleading 

airline. 

Many United leader voices have fi lled this column in the last 12 

months, describing the work that is happening across the airline— 

whether it’s Kevin Knight, senior vice president of planning, describing 

the work to make the network that much stronger for customers, or 

Scott Dolan, senior vice president of airport operations, cargo and 

United Express, detailing the eff orts under way to improve the airport 

experience. Those voices and the work they represent are united by a 

common goal—running a good airline for its customers. 

Known internally as “Focus on 5,” the prioritization of eff orts is a 

rallying cry for the entire organization to move in lockstep toward 

common goals of improving on-time performance, cleanliness, service, 

costs and revenue. 

“We’re putting a stake in the ground that we will not settle for anything 

other than the best,” Tague says. 

The company’s focus is paying off . Over the past year, United 

has gone from lagging behind to leading the industry in on-time 

performance. In fact, at press time, the airline had distributed more than

16 


voices 

$22 million in incentive 

pay to eligible frontline 

employees in recognition 

of this accomplishment. In 

addition, the carrier’s aircraft 

condition, cleanliness and 

employee courtesy ratings 

are at all-time highs. 

“Our team is doing great 

work,” Tague says. “A 

consistent focus on the basics 

is creating an environment 

that enables our employees 

to be successful at what they 

wake up every morning 

wanting to do, which is to 

provide great service for our 

customers.” 

The desire to improve 

service for customers is 

permeating the company. 

One example is a training 

program that customer 

service representatives 

at Washington Dulles 

Airport, in conjunction 

with management and local 

unions, came up with to 

fi lm their interactions with 

customers and share them 

on a peer-to-peer basis. (The 

program will be rolled out 

companywide in 2010.) The 

goal: show how changing 

one or two little things can 

improve the interaction. 

As Alexandria Marren, 

senior vice president of 

onboard service, noted in 

a recent Hemispheres Voices 

column, “The bottom line 

is, we are in the service 

business. We always want 

our customers to feel cared 

for and respected. Our 

people love what they do, and 

they are focused on being 

attentive to our customers’ 

needs. With that attitude 

—and all the necessary 

tools—we are making the 

customer’s experience that 

much better.” 

Just like other large 

organizations navigating 

the current economic 

environment, United is 

ensuring it’s making the right 

investments that provide 

value and return to customers. 

For example, this year the 

company completed the 

rollout of new international 

fi rst and business cabins on 

its Boeing 767s and 747s, 

incorporating new lie-fl at 

“We’re putting a stake in 

the ground that we will 

not settle for anything other 

than the best.” 

UNITED AIRLINES PRESIDENT JOHN TAGUE, 

on board one of the company’s B747 aircraft 

confi gured with new United First suites 

seats, improved on-demand 

entertainment and other 

amenities that have won 

appreciative notices from 

media outlets—including, 

two years in a row, American 

Express Publishing 

Company’s Executive Travel 

magazine—and customers 

alike. 

Customer satisfaction 

ratings are up as a result. 

Overall satisfaction ratings 

from customers fl ying the 

reconfi gured international 

widebody aircraft are 

nearly two times greater 

than they were before the 

improvements. Additionally, 

an online survey found that 

ratings for cleanliness and 

cabin condition improved 

three times over. The 

company will begin the same 

upgrades on all of its 777 

aircraft early next year. 

Work is well under way in 

converting the Airbus 320s 

previously used for United’s 

former Ted product, installing 

fi rst-class seats and leather 

throughout. Red Carpet Clubs 

are also being thoroughly 

refurbished to provide a more 

relaxing environment for 

customers waiting pre-fl ight 

or during layovers. 

United recently began 

the process of introducing 

new uniforms by designer 

Cynthia Rowley. The 

company is involving all 

employee groups in the 

eff ort, gathering input 

about what is important 

to them. This is one of the 

many investments United 

is making and refl ects the 

importance the company 

places on creating the best 

environment for customers 

and employees. 

At the same time that 

the company is focused on 

improving its performance, 

it is also committed to 

strengthening its alliance 

and partner relationships. In 

October, United welcomed 

Continental to the Star 

Alliance, providing access 

to more than 60 new 

destinations for United 

customers. In December, 

Brussels Airlines joins Star 

Alliance as well. The addition 

of Brussels Airlines is even 

more valuable due to United’s 

announcement that it will be 

adding additional nonstop 

service to Brussels from its 

Chicago hub. 

With the work under 

way and the strong network 

and unmatched alliances, 

there’s every reason to believe 

United will go from strength 

to strength, Tague says. The 

number of industry fi rsts 

reads like a timeline of modern 

air travel: United employed 

the fi rst fl ight attendants 

and opened the world’s fi rst 

fl ight kitchen in the 1930s. 

United was the fi rst airline to 

introduce a credit card in the 

1960s, and—in the 1990s— 

was the fi rst to off er e-tickets. 

More recently, United 

cofounded Star Alliance, the 

fi rst truly global alliance. In 

the last few years, United 

bucked the trend of adding 

seats in coach cabins and 

continues to off er Economy 

Plus, the product it pioneered 

that off ers more legroom 

and has proven to be hugely 

popular with customers. 

And next year, United will 

move its airline operations 

from suburban Chicago to 

the iconic Willis Tower in the 

heart of the city’s downtown 

Loop. The new location will act 

as an engine of collaboration 

among employees and a clear 

representation of United’s 

future. 

“We’re passionate 

about running a great 

airline,” Tague says. “The 

performance improvements 

we’ve made in the past 

year give us the confi dence 

that we are on the right 

path to continue and build 

momentum in 2010.” 

PHOTOGRAPH BY UNITED AIRLINES CREATIVE SERVICES

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18 connections 

Here, There, Everywhere 

Going places? Great…because United is, too. 

YOU’VE GOT PLACES TO GO. You’ve got people to see. Clients to meet in another time zone, beaches 

to enjoy on another continent. Skiing in the West, diving in the South Pacifi c, hiking to a greensand 

beach in Hawaii. 

For you, getting there is important. And with United, getting there is getting easier. 

With some 3,300 fl ights a day, United is already a familiar presence in more than 200 cities 

around the world. And with our fellow Star Alliance members, United can take you even 

further, with connections to 1,071 destinations in 171 countries worldwide. 

Going where you want to go means frequent service in some of the largest cities in the U.S., 

including Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Denver. 

And it’s only getting better. 

From Asheville to Huntsville—and to Mammoth Mountain and Pensacola—United is 

touching down with new service in several new cities in the coming months. 

Perhaps you’ve already seen Denmark, so why not visit Duluth? If you like visiting cities 

named London, we’ve got two to off er. 

Because the world is a big place. And we want to make it smaller. 

Visit United.com for more information. 

TAG TEAM 

On October 27, United’s 

global route network 

added more than 60 cities 

when Continental Airlines 

joined the Star Alliance, 

the world’s oldest and 

largest airline grouping. 

For United’s frequent 

fl iers, Continental’s 

entry opens a world of 

benefi ts consistent with 

those earned on all Star 

Alliance carriers, including 

the ability to earn and 

redeem miles for travel 

throughout Continental’s 

network, recognition of 

elite status when you fl y 

and access to Continental’s 

Presidents Clubs. 

And United’s 

partnership with 

Continental offers you 

even more, like more 

fl ights to more of the 

places you want to 

go and more effi cient 

connections in a host 

of airports—including 

Chicago O’Hare, Beijing, 

Shanghai, Tokyo, 

Frankfurt and Paris. 

PHOTOGRAPHS BY UNITED AIRLINES CREATIVE SERVICES (PLANE), BEN JEAYES/SHUTTERSTOCK (TOKYO), JUERGEN SCHONNOP/SHUTTERSTOCK (FRANKFURT)

COLD MOUNTAIN // Four mountaineers go for a stroll in the Swiss Alps.


wish you were here 

CANTON OF BERN, SWITZERLAND // PHOTOGRAPH BY BERNARD VAN DIERENDONCK 

21


wish you were here 

CANTON OF BERN, SWITZERLAND // PHOTOGRAPH BY BERNARD VAN DIERENDONCK 

21

dispatches 

NOTES FROM ALL OVER 

Las Vegas 

Totally Tubular! 

A Vegas casino makes liquor quicker. 

ILLUSTRATIONS BY GRAHAM ROUMIEU 


WHEN YOU VISIT the newly opened ARIA Resort & 

Casino in Las Vegas, order a drink and ask the person 

on the next bar stool to guess how far he thinks the 

libation will travel from the bottle to your glass. If he 

gets it right, you’ll buy the next round. 

The answer: between 1,000 and 10,000 feet, or up 

to two miles. 

The ARIA, which is part of the stunning new 

CityCenter, has been constructed with a fi rst-of-itskind, 

computer-driven liquor transportation system. 

Deep in the bowels of the hotel reside six so-called “pump 

rooms” containing 32 brands of booze. In each room, 

1,344 bottles stacked six deep are placed upside down in specialized holders controlled by a computer. 

Some 26 miles of tubing—or just under a marathon’s worth—zip the liquor around the facility. 

Say you’re in the blackjack pit and you feel a little thirsty. You place your order with a server, and she 

sashays over to a bartender, who punches a code into one of his three liquor guns, sending a signal to 

the central computer. Precisely measured jiggers of hooch are dispatched through a network of quarterinch-thick 

plastic arteries winding behind the casino’s walls. Et voilà: Your Long Island iced tea, sir. 

While this set-up helps the casino to monitor its liquor inventory and prevents bartenders from being 

egregiously generous, it also ensures that customers get their cocktails promptly. “Our liquor guns are 

pretty intelligent,” explains Heidi Hinkle, beverage director at ARIA. In a casino, every second lost to 

a bartender fumbling with a bottle of Absolut is time a customer isn’t gambling—and the house isn’t 

profi ting. To make sure nothing goes wrong, ARIA does what casinos usually do: It watches things, very 

closely. “We have employees monitoring the pump rooms twenty-four hours a day,” Hinkle says. “Just in 

case.”—MICHAEL KAPLAN 

23


24 dispatches 

Buenos Aires 

DRIVE, SHE SAID 

Layne Mosler, a 35-year-old 

Californian, has no idea 

where her next meal is 

coming from, and she likes 

it that way. Her cult blog, 

Taxi Gourmet, records the 

adventures that ensue from 

the order she gives every 

time she climbs into a cab 

in the evening: “Take me to 

your favorite restaurant.” 

Mosler began the practice 

in 2007, a year after moving 

to Buenos Aires. “I was 

dancing tango and taking 

cabs regularly,” she says. 

“After a few months of 

chatting with drivers, I 

realized they were teaching 

me more about their city 

than anyone else. So I 

decided to combine my 

interest in them with my 

obsession for fi nding 

restaurants off the radar.” 

And fi nd them she does. 

The resultant vignettes read 

like a tourist guidebook 

written by Anthony 

Bourdain under the 

infl uence of early Kerouac. 

Homemade pasta in gas 

station cafés, chitterlings in 

tumbledown steakhouses, 

homely empanada joints, 

melancholy pizza parlors… 

Buenos Aires’ “underbelly” 

has rarely been evoked so 

well, and never so literally. 

But it’s the vivid literary 

portraits of her drivers 

that make Mosler’s work 

remarkable. Meet, for 

example, sixtysomething 

Roque, an evangelical 

pastor whose love of a 

specifi c empanada verges 

on religious. Or Fernando, 

who croons a tango while 

spiriting her to the “best 

sausage-sandwich stall in 

town.” Mosler has a degree in 

anthropology and a decade 

and a half of experience in 

the restaurant trade—and 

it’s not always clear which 

skill set is more useful to her 

current endeavor. 

Not everything goes 

according to recipe, 

as illustrated by some 

strange-tasting bits in an 

otherwise excellent feijoada. 

But Mosler’s adventurous 

appetite is undimmed. After 

recently moving back to the 

states to develop a TV series 

and get a cab license of her 

own, she hopes to extend 

her serendipitous adventures 

to more cities, including 

Beirut, Naples, Istanbul and 

even Tehran. 

She also plans to expand 

her website to accommodate 

the stories of fellow food 

pilgrims from around the 

globe. Her advice to wannabe 

taxi gourmets? “Let go of the 

map.” —MATT CHESTERTON 

Stockholm 

Enter the 

Dragon 

A group of 40 booklovers 

gather around petite Pia 

Hallberg, the Stockholm City 

Museum tour guide. It’s an 

unseasonably warm autumn 

day in this Scandinavian 

capital, so no one’s in any 

hurry. Hallberg points to the top fl oor of a handsome 

building overlooking Riddarfjaerden Canal in the 

Södermalm district. 

“This is Mikael Blomkvist’s home,” Hallberg says. 

Of course, it’s not really, because Blomkvist is a fi ctional 

character, an invention of the late Swedish mystery 

author Stieg Larsson. But no matter. Where New York 

has its Sex and the City tour, New Jersey its Sopranos 

tour and Paris its Da Vinci Code tour, the tour du jour 

in Stockholm is based on the runaway international hit 

novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. (Another tour 

covers the fi rst sequel, The Girl Who Played with Fire.) 

Dragon Tattoo tells the story of Blomkvist, a 

journalist who unravels a 40-year-old murder mystery 

while trying to clear his name. The book and its two 

sequels have sold 12 million copies worldwide. (In 

Sweden, a population of only nine million has devoured 

3.5 million copies.) The tours are offered in eight 

languages and have long waiting lists on weekends. 

In August, Jose Luis Zapatero, the prime minister of 

Spain and a Dragon Tattoo fanatic, took the tour with 

his wife and daughters. 

Participants are invited to see with their own 

eyes the building where computer hacker Lisbeth 

Salander (who happens to have a large tattoo of a 

dragon on her back) bought her 21-room apartment 

with stolen money; the Mellqvist Coffee Bar, where 

Blomkvist bought his java; and the offi ces of his 

magazine, Millennium. (They won’t, however, 

get a look at the prison where Blomkvist spends 

three months.) 

At the Mellqvist, Hallberg points out that Larsson 

wrote much of the series here. The author died of a 

heart attack in 2004, a year before Dragon Tattoo was 

published, but, says Hallberg, “I bet he’d have enjoyed 

the tour.”—MARKUS WILHELMSON

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26 dispatches 

Los Angeles 

CONDUCTING ELECTRICITY 

Hoots and whistles fi ll a 

packed stadium of 17,000, 

as a charismatic young 

Venezuelan rallies the 

crowd with his emotional 

proclamations. Soon they’re 

chanting his name: “Gu-stavo! 

Gu-sta-vo!” 

Much as it might feel like 

a political rally, the event is 

actually a concert, a fourand-a-half-hour 

lovefest in 

honor of Gustavo Dudamel, 

new director of the Los 

Angeles Philharmonic. 

“Who knew there were this 

many classical music fans 

in L.A.?” marvels local rock 

musician Marc Monroe 

Johnson, sitting in the 

stands. “It’s like a reception 

for Dear Leader.” 

At just 28, the fresh-faced 

Istanbul 

Busy Work 

It-boy of the symphony set 

is only the second youngest 

conductor in the L.A. 

orchestra’s history to fi ll the 

director’s position, and many 

hope he’ll make classical 

music accessible to a new 

generation of fans. 

He seems off to a good 

start: The curly-maned 

prodigy—dubbed “The 

Dude” by twentysomethings 

in the audience—makes his 

fi rst stage appearance in 

true SoCal style, clad in 

a T-shirt. Jack Black and 

Andy Garcia are on hand to 

sing his praises, along with 

Herbie Hancock and Quincy 

Jones. And bassist Flea, of 

the Red Hot Chili Peppers, 

performs with kids from the 

Silver Lake Conservatory of 

Music, a school the rocker 

founded. Later Dudamel 

Behind a pair of semicircular beige display counters, four workers unfold shirts 

from one pile and then, for no apparent reason, refold and deposit them in another. 

The work isn’t particularly challenging, but that’s precisely the point of this retail 

purgatory: They’re laboring in the name of art. 

A potent reminder that the economic downturn is global in scope, “Unemployed 

Employees—I Found You a New Job!” by Turkish artists Aydan Murtezaoglu and Bülent 

Sangar, is an odd yet topical performance piece on view at Antrepo No. 3, a waterfront 

warehouse in Istanbul’s Tophane district. 

For their humorous if pointed contribution to the Istanbul Biennial, 

the artists have hired local university graduates to perform needless 

tasks before a live audience and for an online video feed. It’s like 

the myth of Sisyphus set in a Turkish outlet mall. 

“I focus on the irony of it,” says one participant, Ozgen Kaybaki, 

who, despite a masters in marketing, has been unable to fi nd work— 

except as part of an art installation, of course, folding clothes and 

talking with passersby about her adventures in the global economy. 

“Millions work like this doing the silliest jobs,” she adds. “Go to any 

shop in Istanbul. The people are like machines!” 

One of her colleagues, Mehtap Pamukci, a 32-year-old philosophy 

graduate, notes that the fi nancial crisis began far from Turkey. 

“Why do we suffer here?” he wonders. 

At least these ersatz retail workers could count on paid 

employment through the Biennial’s conclusion. “I was lucky 

to fi nd this job after only three months of looking,” says Kaybaki, 

“not everyone is so lucky these days.” —RICHARD CARRIERO 

himself conducts the Los 

Angeles Youth Orchestra. 

Accordingly, the mood 

at the concert is playful, 

especially toward the 

end of the evening, when 

elaborate fi reworks explode 

around the proscenium 

and the smoke lifts to 

reveal a brightly colored 

marquee that simply reads 

“¡Bienvenido Gustavo!” 

“Look out, Arnold,” says 

one onlooker, noting that 

Governor Schwarzenegger 

will be wrapping up his fi nal 

term next year. 

—SHANA TING LIPTON

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directions 

WHERE TO STAY / WHAT TO SEE / WHEN TO GO 

news 

Icy Reception 

The obvious problem with 

constructing a building 

entirely out of ice is that 

it melts every spring. 

But Sweden’s ICEHOTEL 

embraces the opportunity 

to reinvent itself with an 

annual competition among 

international designers to 

conceptualize and build new 

suites out of ice and snow, 

starting every November. 

This year—the hotel’s 20th 

anniversary—15 suites will 

open December 10, designed 

by contest winners from all 

over the world. Staying in one 

of these so-called “art suites,” 

you’ll feel more like you 

traveled to another planet 

than to another country. 

icehotel.com 

29

30 


TALL ORDER // After fi ve years of construction, the tallest tower in the world is set to open 

in Dubai on December 2, which also happens to be United Arab Emirates National Day. The 

shiny, pointy 2,684-foot Burj Dubai houses the fi rst Armani Hotel in the world and has retail 

and offi ce space galore. (It hasn’t all been fi lled yet, so hurry up and stake your claim.) This 

marks the fi rst time since 1311—when England’s Lincoln Cathedral surpassed Egypt’s Great 

Pyramid of Giza—that the world’s tallest freestanding structure has been in the Middle East. 

Whatever you do, don’t look down. burjdubai.com 

ABSINTHE MINDED // 

The InterContinental 

Montreal just 

unveiled a $14 million 

makeover. Instead of 

going green, the hotel 

followed the green 

fairy, opening 

the fi rst absinthe bar 

in North America, 

Sarah B., named after 

Sarah Bernhardt. 

Green-velvet 

banquettes and cozy 

fi replaces make 

Sarah B. feel decadent 

and vintage. The 

specialty of the house 

is absinthe-based 

cocktails, including 

a Collins, frappe and 

mojito. barsarahb.com; 

montreal.intercontinental.com 

ALL THE TRIMMINGS // You’re unlikely to 

have a white Christmas in Dallas, but 

the city’s Rosewood Crescent Hotel 

has a pretty sweet holiday tradition. 

Each year, the hotel erects a massive 

gingerbread village using 800 eggs, 

100 pounds of fl our and 100 pounds of 

candy. There’s also a 10-foot-tall Mrs. 

Claus (you better watch out). While the 

display is just for show (no nibbling), 

you can bake your own during 

gingerbread-making classes for adults 

and children. crescentcourt.com 

LIVE FROM NEW YORK... // Elaborate department 

store window displays are as much a part of winter in 

the Big Apple as ice skating at Rockefeller Center. Unlike 

its competitors, Barneys stays away from traditional 

holiday themes (see last year’s “Peace & Love: Have 

a Hippie Holiday”). This year, the store will celebrate 

another famed New York tradition: Saturday Night Live. 

Look for the Coneheads, John Belushi and Tina Fey in 

their seasonal fi nery. barneys.com 

CALENDAR 

DECEMBER 

3-7 

MONTREAL // Twenty years 

after the fall of the Berlin Wall, 

along comes Wall to Wall, an 

arts festival that is guaranteed 

to be off the wall. 

berlinmuramur.com 

6 

PONZANO ROMANO, ITALY // 

Looking for love? You’ll be in 

good company at the Spinster 

Festival, where a randomly 

selected single woman receives 

a gift and hearty well-wishing 

from the town. comune. 

ponzanoromano.rm.it 

12 

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK // 

Hanukkah celebrations aren’t 

usually accompanied by metal 

music, but “Hanukkah Gone 

Metal” is par for the course 

at New York’s famed Knitting 

Factory nightclub, where the 

music will be a backdrop to a 

major league dreidel-spinning 

tournament. knittingfactory.com 

28-30 

LORNE, AUSTRALIA // It’s 

camping season in the Southern 

Hemisphere, and what better 

complement to sleeping in a 

tent than catching a live show 

by Grizzly Bear (or any of the 

more than 50 other bands 

playing), watching a movie in an 

outdoor amphitheater or going 

to art camp? fallsfestival.com.au 

31 

NEW YORK CITY // Get a head 

start on your resolution and 

usher in the new year with 

a four-mile midnight run in 

Central Park. Best part: no 

hangover the next day! nyrr.org 

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: PHOTOGRAPHS BY B-C IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES, FRANKA BRUNS/AP, COURTESY OF FALLS FESTIVAL, NBC/EVERETT COLLECTION, ISTOCKPHOTO, CORBIS

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32 

CHRISTMAS VILLAGE // You know that aunt or uncle who gets 

everyone perfect gifts from far-off places? You can be that aunt 

or uncle with just a quick jaunt to Chicago. Join the throngs 

buying imported handcrafts at Christkindlmarket. This isn’t your 

typical holiday-mart: It attracts more than half a million people 

who think strolling through an open-air market (inspired by one 

in Nuremberg, Germany, that opened in 1545) while nibbling on 

strudel beats going to the mall any day. christkindlmarket.org 

SNOW BIG DEAL // Aspen Snowmass is among the 

snowiest ski areas with the most diverse terrain in 

the U.S., so devoted skiers could probably stay in a 

quonset hut and still have a good time. Fortunately, they 

don’t have to. The KOR Hotel Group’s Viceroy Resort 

Residences at Snowmass open this month as part of the 

new Snowmass Village. It’s a ski-in, ski-out facility with 

cozy fi replaces in the rooms and a year-round outdoor 

pool (really). In short, it’s got the luxury amenities you 

expect from a billion-dollar project. That hut’s starting to 

sound a bit drafty, isn’t it? viceroysnowmass.com 

GAME DROPPERS // The Las Vegas Strip will welcome 

something unusual this month—a hotel without a 

casino. Talk about a gamble. The Mandarin Oriental Las 

Vegas has lavish rooms, a restaurant helmed by Pierre 

Gagnaire and an absurdly large spa. To celebrate its 

opening, the hotel offers the We Fan Vegas package: 

Book one or 

more nights and 

get another free. 

Sounds like a 

safe bet for a 

relaxing Vegas 

getaway—three 

words we never 

thought we’d see in 

a single sentence. 

mandarinoriental.com 

BON TEMPS // Grab a 

skewer and make 

some s’mores beside 

any of the hundred 

(carefully contained) 

feux de joie at the 

annual Festival of the 

Bonfi res outside New 

Orleans. The Lutcher, 

Louisiana, tradition 

dates back to colonial 

times, but activities 

such as a washer 

board tournament 

(in which washers 

are thrown into holes 

on a wooden board) 

and the Million Mutt 

March are more recent 

additions. Oh, and if 

you need to waddle off 

those s’mores, there’s 

a 5K going on, too. 

festivalofthebonfi res.org 

CALENDAR 

DECEMBER 18– 

JANUARY 3 

LONDON // For fans of sports 

traditionally played in bars, the 

World Darts Championship hits 

the bull’s-eye. pdc.tv 

8-17 

SYDNEY // If your attention 

span is too limited for 

Sundance and the like, try 

Flickerfest, a collection of short 

fi lms screened on Bondi Beach. 

fl ickerfest.com.au 

16 

KEY WEST, FLORIDA // As an 

island chain, the Keys have a 

duty to provide any and all 

visitors with delicious seafood, 

and that’s exactly what they 

do at the Florida Keys 

Seafood Festival. monroe.ifas. 

ufl .edu/environment/env_seafood_ 

fest.shtml 

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF CHRISTKINDLMARKET, IAN WALTON/GETTY IMAGES, COURTESY OF FLICKERFEST, 

SHUTTERSTOCK, COURTESY OF MANDARIN ORIENTAL, COURTESY OF VICEROY SNOWMASS, BRIAN MILLER/TIME & LIFE PICTURES/GETTY

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Steiner’s Peregrine XP binoculars are the BMWs of optical instruments. 

BY ADAM K. RAYMOND// PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN LAWTON 

DIRECTIONS | DECEMBER 2009 

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35


36 1. HEAVY KETTLE Known for pavement-shredding sports cars, 

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PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID HARRISON/NEWSCOM 

DIRECTIONS | DECEMBER 2009 

whereabouts 39 

The Places I Go: 

P.D. James 

“I’VE TRAVELED TO so many 

different countries promoting 

my books, but the place I’ve felt 

most at home is America, and my 

favorite city there is Boston. It’s a 

very English city, and that’s such 

a funny thing to say, because 

we don’t travel to other places 

to fi nd more Englishness! But 

there’s so much history there, 

and I loved the architecture. 

There’s something very special 

about Boston. It combines all the 

activity of a big city with a kind 

of intellectual peace. 

“I was there for three months 

teaching creative writing at 

Boston University. I really 

enjoyed the historic sites such as 

the Paul Revere House and the 

State Capitol. It’s a very walkable 

city. I remember going across the 

bridge to Harvard University, 

which is a very attractive 

campus. And we went down 

to Cape Cod and visited 

Nantucket, where the houses 

have widow’s walks around 

them. It’s just lovely.” 

P.D. James’ latest book, 

Talking About Detective Fiction, 

will be released this month.

40 

Slather on some 

SPF 50 and head to 

the Desert 

Botanical Garden 

(1201 N. Galvin Pkwy.; 

dbg.org), a quiet oasis 

of exotic plants and 

towering cacti smack 

in the middle of 

America’s fi fth-largest 

city. ( 0:45 ) 

Cool down with a 

glass of Pinot at 

Postino Central 

(5144 N. Central Ave.; 

postinowinecafe.com). 

On a nice day 

(note: they’re pretty 

much all nice) the 

back patio is a prime 

spot for people 

watching. Count 10 

cowboy hats and get 

ready to shop. 

( 1:25 ) 

BOARDING PASS Five hours in Phoenix just isn’t enough, 

so United and United Express offer frequent service to the 

Valley of the Sun from Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, 

San Francisco and Washington. 

There’s a hip retail 

cluster tucked into 

a strip mall a couple 

blocks away where 

you can try on some 

quirky jewelry at 

Frances Vintage 

(10 W. Camelback Rd.; 

francesvintage.com) 

and listen to 

Bob Dylan’s Christmas 

album at Stinkweeds 

before grabbing 

two handfuls of 

old-fashioned penny 

candy at Smeeks. 

( 1:50 ) 

One stop south on the 

light rail, sit down for 

a mozzarella, tomato 

and basil sandwich 

at Pane Bianco 


pizzeriabianco.com). 

People wait hours 

for a table at 

James Beard 

Award–winner 

Chris Bianco’s 

downtown pizzeria, 

but here, it’s counter 

service and picnic 

table, in case you 

need your tomatoes 

more sun-dried. 

( 2:20 ) 

Pop into one of the 

cavernous (and 

cool) galleries at the 

Phoenix Art Museum 


phxart.org), then get 

your caffeine fi x and 

a pastry a block away 

at Giant Coffee. While 

there, resist the urge 

to check your email; 

the clock is ticking. 

( 3:20 ) 

Do a lap around Ro 

Ho En, the Japanese 

Friendship Garden 

(1125 N. 3rd Ave.; 

japanesefriend 

shipgarden.org) where 

architects from 

Himeji, Japan, have 

designed a wabi-sabi 

koi pond surrounded 

by artfully pruned 

trees. ( 3:45 ) 

Stop at the Civic 

Space Park (424 N. 

Central Ave.; phoenix. 

gov) and have a 

gander at the art 

fl oating above. Is 

it a jellyfi sh? A 

blooming desert 

fl ower? Whatever 

it is, internationally 

renowned artist Janet 

Echelman’s sculpture 

Her Secret Is Patience 

is Phoenix’s most 

buzzworthy piece of 

public art. 

( 4:10 ) 

Your last stop is 

the Phoenix Ranch 

Market (1602 

E. Roosevelt St.; 

prosranch.com), 

a wonderland of 

Mexican culture with 

an in-house tortilleria, 

a bustling food court 

and a jaw-dropping 

produce section. Pick 

up a cold agua fresca 

and fi ll your carry-on 

with cilantro before 

heading back to the 

airport. You’ve found 

the perfect souvenir. 

( 5:00 ) 

ILLUSTRATION BY OLIVER JEFFERS

PHOTOGRAPH BY NICK WELSH/COURTESY OF CARTIER 

style 

Diamond 

Anniversary 

...And then some! Looking back 

on a century of Cartier jewels 

// BY SARAH HORNE 


culture 

ART & COMMERCE 

IT’S BEEN 100 YEARS SINCE the Frenchman Pierre Cartier 

brought dad Alfred’s storied jewelry concern to America, 

but the company, famed for whimsical designs like its 

rock star panther ring, is still partying like it’s 1909. 

To wrap up Cartier’s yearlong centennial celebrations, 

the exhibition “Cartier and America” will open on 

December 19 at San Francisco’s Legion of Honor. You 

might want to bundle up, because it will be icy: There’s 

the “Star of South Africa,” an 83-carat rock found in 

1869 along the banks of South Africa’s Orange River, a 

discovery that set off the South African diamond rush. 

(The bauble was later whittled down to a mere 47-carat 

pear-shape, lest you fear it all sounds a bit Dow 14,000.) Then there’s Grace Kelly’s diamond engagement ring, a 

hefty sparkler that’s equal parts movie star, European princess and prizefi ghter. 

But if cut, color and clarity don’t dazzle you, some of Cartier’s more quirky amusements are also on display. Space 

nerds will cheer at the miniature 1969 Lunar Landing Module, rendered in yellow and white gold. Unfortunately, it’s not 

available as a stocking stuff er. And for your inner crocodile hunter, there’s a hefty 1975 necklace on view featuring an 

emerald beast taking a bite out of a yellow-diamond rival; the piece comprises a total of 2,087 jewels. Now, that’s fi erce. 

If you’re looking for your own piece of the rock, check out Cartier’s newest collection, Secrets & Merveilles, which will 

have four themes: peacocks, pearls, snakes and, of course, diamonds—something for everyone on your holiday list. 

43


44 hero 

Teen Spirit 

In between soccer practice, swim meets and dance class, 

RandomKid founder Talia Leman helps young people around 

the world organize their own philanthropic efforts. 

BY LAYLA SCHLACK // PHOTOGRAPH BY SANDRA L. DYAS 

NAME • TALIA LEMAN, 14 

MISSION • Providing structural 

support, interest-free microloans 

and education to kids wishing to 

raise money for a cause. “When 

I was ten, after Hurricanes 

Katrina and Rita, I started a 

project called TLC,” Leman says. 

“It stands for Trick-or-treat for 

the Levee Catastrophe. Kids 

could trick-or-treat for coins 

as well as candy, and I raised 

ten million dollars. From there, 

I founded RandomKid.” Now 

she’s also working with the 

University of Iowa, in her home 

state, on a project called Great 

Strides. “We’re sending kids free 

pedometers, and they get pledges 

for the miles they walk to help 

kids with club feet, so it’s kind 

of walking to help others walk. 

Instead of surgery, which is really 

expensive, we’re using something 

called the Ponseti method, which 

uses a series of braces.” 

MOTIVATION • After witnessing the 

success of TLC, Leman says, “I 

realized I really was a random kid. 

I’m no one special, and I might not 

be able to do everything on my 

own, but by reaching out to other 

people, I can make a difference.” 

WHEN SHE GROWS UP • “I don’t know 

yet if philanthropy is what I 

want to do,” Leman says. “I’m just 

taking it one project at a time. If 

I had to say right now, I’m really 

interested in medicine, so maybe 

working with health care in 

underdeveloped countries.” 

LEND A HAND • Ninety-nine 

percent of funds donated to 

RandomKid go to projects such as 

training service dogs, providing 

clean water to impoverished 

villages and building schools in 

underdeveloped countries. 

Learn more at randomkid.org

Food. Shelter. Comfort. Hope. 

GIVE THE GIFT THAT SAVES THE DAY 

In this season of hope—when you want your gifts to really matter—there’s 

one gift you can always count on to save the day. 

It will save the day when the next disaster strikes, or when a neighbor’s 

house burns down. It will be there when someone needs lifesaving blood, 

or the comfort of a helping hand. 

It will connect military families with their loved ones in service, and provide 

training in CPR, aquatics safety, and fi rst aid. It will spread goodwill and 

change lives around the world. 

Hope. It’s the gift you give to the American Red Cross. 

Please donate today. 

1-800-RED CROSS 

RedCross.org

46 


sound 

Do You Hear What I Hear? 

For the self-proclaimed King of Jingaling, if it doesn’t have sleigh bells, it’s just not music. 

BY K. LEANDER WILLIAMS // ILLUSTRATION BY ANDREW HOLDER 

HOLIDAY MUSIC OFTEN gets a bad rap, and 

Bob Dylan’s recent surreal croaker, 

Christmas in the Heart, isn’t likely to 

change that (though the royalties go 

to charity, which is a plus). Nor will 

the new off erings by Sting, Michael 

McDonald and Judas Priest’s leathery 

singer Rob Halford do much to warm 

the hearts of true yule-tune afi cionados. 

Yet each December, they arrive, like 

intrusive relatives. “Record labels 

still see Christmas records as sort of 

a cash cow—hence the sheer number 

of them,” says Brad Ross-MacLeod, 

the self-proclaimed King of Jingaling, 

who prefers the more obscure entries. 

“It’s amazing the number of fantastic 

composers and arrangers who have been 

all but forgotten.” 

Ross-MacLeod, a schoolteacher in 

Kenosha, Wisconsin, grew up on classics 

by The Hollyridge Strings and the 

British vocal arranger Mike Sammes. 

Four years ago, his search for these and 

other chestnuts prompted him to found 

falalalala.com, which has become the goto 

site for vintage Christmas-music connoisseurs, 

logging more than 1.5 million 

hits during the 2008 holiday season. 

“The period I’m interested in stretches 

from about the late ’40s to the mid-’70s,” 

the King explains matter-of-factly. “You 

know how your parents had those three 

Christmas records they pulled out every 

year? Well, if you think about it, those 

songs actually become Christmas for you. 

What the site does is connect people who 

are looking for a favorite old record with 

experts”—his “elves.” 

Fittingly, perusing the site is a bit like 

being transported back in time, with 

Ross-MacLeod cueing up the best tracks 

from vinyl LPs others of us might overlook 

in thrift stores. Every day between 

December 1 and Christmas, he posts a 

diff erent gem, the culmination of which 

is a downloadable compilation, Adventure 

in Carols. He doesn’t upload anything 

available on CD or MP3, so it’s quite possible 

that falalalala.com is the only place 

to fi nd, say, The Caroleers’ version of the 

Texas swing ditty “When Santa Claus 

Gets Your Letter” or the Brazilian group 

Os Velhinhos Transviados’ “Noite Silenciosa,” 

a funky take on “Silent Night.” 

Though he admits to being a little 

“obsessed,” Ross-MacLeod says his 

passion for the holidays is purely 

musical. “It’s not like if you rode by my 

house you’d see over-the-top decorations,” 

he says. “My wife and I have a vintage 

white Christmas tree—maybe a little on 

the kitschy side, but that’s about it.” 

K. LEANDER WILLIAMS is in search of a more 

festive holiday hat.

Photo: Tom Stillo 

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48 


ACTION! James Cameron sees the future, and it’s in 3-D. 

The Next Dimension 

Can Avatar transform 3-D from novelty to 

necessity? Hollywood hopes so. // BY ADAM K. RAYMOND 

AT MIDNIGHT ON December 18, the 

opening credits of James Cameron’s 

sci-fi epic Avatar will fl icker onto movie 

screens, and cinema as we know it will 

change forever. At least that’s the idea. 

The fervent anticipation of Avatar 

(tickets went on sale fourth months 

ALSO THIS MONTH 

What else to watch on 

the go in December 

Robin Williams: 

Weapons of 

Self-Destruction 

Thirty years after fi rst 

appearing on HBO, 

furry funnyman Robin 

Williams returns with 

his full repertoire 

of goofy voices and 

bizarre antics for his 

fi rst stand-up special in 

seven years. 

Na-Nu Na-Nu. 

On HBO December 6 

ago) has less to do with the plot— 

humans battling blue aliens—than the 

presentation: motion-capture animation 

mixed with live action displayed in 

a revolutionary type of 3-D that’s 

been called the biggest innovation in 

fi lmmaking since sound and color. 

Herb & Dorothy AK 100: 25 Films by 

Akira Kurosawa 

This charming 

documentary tells 

how a working-class 

couple amassed one 

of the world’s top 

modern art collections 

by snatching up works 

by unknowns such as 

Chuck Close and Sol 

LeWitt. 

On DVD December 15 

Akira Kurosawa 

directed 31 fi lms in 

his masterful career. 

Criterion celebrates his 

100th birthday with 

this collection of the 

25 best, from Sanshiro 

Sugata, his fi rst, to 

Madadayo, his last. 

On DVD December 8; 

criterion.com 

vision 

This isn’t Vincent Price’s 3-D, mind 

you. Known as RealD, the digital 

stereoscopic projection technology used 

for Avatar has been around only since 

2005, when Chicken Little introduced it 

to six-year-olds. Since then, RealD has 

mainly been used for animation (Up, 

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) and 

movies that might not be especially 

appealing without the added novelty 

(The Final Destination, G-Force). That’s 

why Michael V. Lewis, CEO of RealD, is 

so excited to have the director behind 

the most successful movie ever (it was 

about a boat) utilizing the technology. 

“James Cameron has spent the last 

decade learning how to eff ectively tell 

stories in 3-D,” Lewis says. “Avatar could 

be the Citizen Kane of 3-D fi lms.” It may 

sound as if he’s looking through 3-D 

colored glasses, but Lewis is not alone. 

DreamWorks CEO Jeff rey Katzenberg 

thinks “Avatar will be to 3-D what The 

Wizard of Oz was to color.” And Sony 

Pictures Entertainment cochair Amy 

Pascal believes “it could change the 

world.” Meanwhile Tim Burton, Steven 

Spielberg and Zack Snyder have 3-D 

fi lms in development. 

If all goes as planned, Avatar will 

open the door for 3-D romcoms, 3-D 

musicals and 3-D documentaries, and 

Hollywood will reap the rewards. Ticket 

prices for 3-D movies can be as much as 

twice those of their 2-D counterparts, 

and moviegoers appear willing to pay. 

Of course, not everyone is convinced. 

Roger Ebert has called 3-D “a marketing 

gimmick,” and other detractors point 

to a lack of screens around the country 

capable of showing 3-D movies. 

Shooting in 3-D also adds an estimated 

$15 million in production costs, an 

impossible luxury for many small fi lms. 

Perhaps most important, no one knows 

how the 3-D experience will translate to 

the living room. But they better fi gure 

it out soon. Sony and Panasonic are 

releasing 3-D fl at screens next year. 

Associate editor ADAM K. RAYMOND wears 

his 3-D glasses at night. 

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF MARK FELLMAN/TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM 

CORPORATION, COURTESY OF KATSUYOSHI TANAKA, COURTESY OF MTV, COURTESY OF HBO

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50 


IT’S BEEN TWO and a half years since 

Apple released the iPhone. That might 

not seem like a long time, but for true 

Mac heads, it’s an eternity. Steve Jobs had 

scarcely returned to work after dealing 

with health issues early this year when 

the anticipation went viral: Welcome back, 

dude. Now where’s the next game-changer? 

Since then, the buzz has built to a 

fever pitch. Supposedly, Apple is set to 

release its newest gizmo this spring: a 

tech 

Dream Machine 

Apple’s new gadget is still under wraps, but some might 

say a tablet hasn’t generated this much excitement since 

Moses. BY ALYSSA GIACOBBE // ILLUSTRATION BY BRYAN CHRISTIE 

TECH WATCH 

More news from the 

cutting edge 

Among the iPhone’s 

limitations: lack of 

word processing and 

spreadsheet programs. 

Quickoffi ce rectifi es 

that for $10, allowing 

you to work on both 

Word and Excel 

documents. Available at 

iTunes app store. 

$700 tablet-like handheld device that 

will allow users to surf the web, watch 

video and play games from just about 

anywhere. Of course, that’s just an 

educated guess. 

Tech bloggers began geeking out over 

this rumored doohickey months ago. 

Apple’s tablet “could be a Kindle killer,” 

enthused PC World. Tech site Gizmodo 

enlisted a chocolatier to create an edible 

version of the fantasy device. And in 

QUICKOFFICE CRAIGSLY THIS IS PHOTOBOMB 

A blessing for those 

hankering for a 1975 

Schwinn but lacking 

the patience to monitor 

Craigslist, Craigsly 

sends email alerts each 

time your object of 

desire is listed. It won’t, 

however, help you 

haggle. craigsly.com 

To “photobomb” is 

to make a surprise 

appearance in a 

photograph without 

the knowledge of the 

subject, typically to 

riotous result. 

Giggle at entries, post 

your own. 

thisisphotobomb.com 

September, Wired.com mused that the 

gadget might save the print industry, 

though the author allowed that the 

whole thing might just be “a mediafabricated 

illusion.” 

Anyone who’s fi ddled with an iPhone 

can understand the excitement. The 

new device, which unlike digital readers 

is expected to replicate web layouts, as 

well as host video, audio and interactive 

features, “could reshape the book 

and magazine industries in the same 

way that the iPod and iPhone have 

radically changed music and phones,” 

says Jeremy Horwitz, editor of online 

magazine iLounge. “Tablets have failed 

so many times before, it’ll be interesting 

to see if the form can be made desirable,” 

says Gizmodo editor Jason Chen, adding 

that “screens sans keyboards” have been 

common in science fi ction since Star 

Trek. (And hey, Roddenberry was right 

about those sliding doors...) 

Just how long we’ll have to wait 

for the new gadget is hard to predict. 

Reports have cited a range of dates, 

from last September to mid-2010. 

According to insiders, the tablet’s been 

in the works since as early as 2003, but 

Jobs—who famously killed the Newton 

MessagePad back in the ’90s—is said to 

have wondered whether a tablet would 

actually be useful for much more than 

“surfi ng the web in the bathroom.” 

Apparently, he’s decided it will. 

(FACE) 

The buzz around the Apple tablet 

hasn’t deterred competitors from 

testing out their own models. Images of 

a Microsoft double-screened “booklet” 

SHUTTERSTOCK 

device called Courier surfaced in 

September; Silicon Valley vet Michael 

Arrington’s industry blog group 

(HESTON), 

TechCrunch is cooking up something 

called the CrunchPad, and Barnes & 

Noble released its own e-reader last 

month. But others are no doubt waiting COLLECTION 

to see what Jobs has cooked up. “Just 

like with the iPhone,” says CrunchGear EVERETT 

editor John Biggs, “once Apple shows 

BY 

the way, the rest will follow.” 

ALYSSA GIACOBBE uses her boyfriend’s iPhone 

to locate Quiznos shops while on road trips. PHOTOGRAPHS

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52 


print 

Living Large 

Just in time for the holidays, a whole wide world of large-format 

editions lands with a thunk. // BY AARON GELL 

CONSIDER THE NOT-SO-HUMBLE coff eetable 

book—so hefty you can barely 

lift the thing, and yet somehow able to 

transport a reader far from home. 

Start your journey with the 

gorgeously produced Painters of Utah’s 

Canyons and Deserts (Gibbs Smith), 

which brings together a number of 

impressionistic images of Zion National 

Park and other breathtaking sites. 

Meanwhile, anyone who’d rather scale 

such peaks than paint them will love The 

Stone Masters: California Rock Climbers 

in the Seventies (Stonemaster), the story 

of a handful of hippies who took on some 

of the most dangerous climbs with little 

more than bandannas for protection. 

Next, drop in on Charles Darwin’s 

favorite island getaway with Galapagos: 

Both Sides of the Coin (Imagine), a vivid 

look at the islands’ animals and humans, 

and how they interact (to sometimes 

damaging eff ect), and delve into China 

(Abbeville), a photo book nearly as 

overwhelming as the country itself. 

Then there’s India. With its numerous 

castes and cultures, it’s not an easy place 

for outsiders to grasp, which explains 

why a new book simply reaches for the 

alphabet. Clive Limpkin’s India Exposed: 

The Subcontinent A-Z (Abbeville) 

illuminates the country in a series of 

pictures arranged encyclopedia-style 

(from astrology to zebu, a breed of cattle), 

and To India, With Love (Assouline) off ers 

a collection of snapshots and memories 

from a passel of well-known contributors, 

from Adrien Brody to Zubin Mehta. 

Photographer Michael Loyd Young 

illuminates the Mississippi River Delta 

region in the aff ecting Blues, Booze & 

BBQ (powerHouse), while legendary 

lensman William Eggleston, who made 

his reputation shooting the American 

South, ventures across the pond for 

a lyrical survey, William Eggleston: 

Paris (Steidl). And acclaimed fashion 

photographer Mario Testino turns his 

lens on Rio de Janeiro with 

MaRIO DE JANEIRO Testino (Taschen), 

sprinkling an array of humid 

Copacabana landscapes among his 

dazzling snapshots of Gisele Bundchen 

and other local attractions. 

Somewhat more instructive is the 

monumental Los Angeles: Portrait of 

a City (Taschen), a pictorial history of 

the city of angels, beginning with an 

amazing 1891 silver print of fl inty-eyed 

settlers on a dusty ranch in what is now 

Hollywood, and ending with presentday 

L.A.—considerably more glittering 

if somehow just as anxious. 

Travel’s romantic past is lovingly 

evoked in Coast to Coast: Vintage 

Travel in North America (Vendome), 

which off ers a cross-continental journey 

by way of vintage photographs and 

handpainted postcards, and in 

Gypset Style (Assouline), author Julia 

Chaplin’s breezy look at the eclectic chic 

of certain well-heeled global nomads. 

Finally, those with a yearning to 

wander even farther afi eld will gravitate 

toward Michael Benson’s 

Far Out: A Space-Time Chronicle 

(Abrams), which features eye-popping 

imagery of nebulae, galaxy clusters and 

other cosmic phenomena. And to think 

you can see it all without even leaving 

the earth. 

PHOTOGRAPH BY CLAIRE BENOIST

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FOUR YEARS AGO, the National Hockey 

League more or less dropped off the 

face of national television, cast into a 

sports broadcasting wilderness where 

even the world’s-strongest-man contest 

feared to go—which is to say, a place 

without ESPN or even ESPN2. Besides 

depriving hockey fans of the nightly 

stylings of ESPN hockey analyst Barry 

Melrose, whose egregious mullet was 

revered enough to spark a series of Bud 

sports 

Ice Capades 

Frozen out of a major television contract in 2005, 

the National Hockey League has reluctantly planted its fl ag 

on the internet. It could be the best thing to happen to 

the sport since the Zamboni. 

BY BRYANT URSTADT // ILLUSTRATION BY EMILIANO PONZI 

Light ads, the NHL’s failure to negotiate 

a full-time broadcast contract with the 

network cost it a lot of money and a 

lot of air time. NBC, in the meantime, 

has been broadcasting games, but 

just a handful and paying zero for the 

privilege. Consequently, the NHL is a 

distant sixth (if you count NASCAR and 

golf) to the other major sports on the TV 

landscape—deep within a black hole 

from which it may never return. 

CULTURE | DECEMBER 2009 

It turns out this may not be such a bad 

thing. Spurned by national television, 

the NHL, with a surprisingly stable 

base of fans rabid enough to seek out 

games no matter what it takes—whether 

through pirated digital streams or legit 

NHL website off erings—has built a 

signifi cant online presence, and one 

that may give it advantages as the 

major sports continue to shed their 

television-based past and present, and 

55


56 sports 

move toward an all-broadband future. 

It’s not that the NHL is a small or 

insignifi cant league. Attendance for 

hockey games, in fact, is about the same 

as it is for NBA games, and hockey’s 

fans are famously loyal. As an old saw 

in Boston goes, “There may be only 

17,000 Bruins fans, but they come to 

every single game.” 

Of course, there are more than 17,000 

Bruins fans, but you get the point. With 

competition from more dominant sports 

like baseball, NASCAR, football and 

basketball (and the college versions of 

the latter two), there just isn’t room for 

an extra sport on the major airwaves— 

though most markets with pro hockey 

teams have a local cable channel willing 

to air games. 

Such adversity has forced pro hockey 

teams and the league down some 

unfamiliar paths. Take Los Angeles, 

a city whose fi nancially strapped 

newspapers stopped sending beat 

writers to L.A. Kings road games 

around the same time the NHL lost 

CLIMATE CHANGE? 

By next season, tough times may drive three teams 

back to their Canadian roots. 

PHOENIX, 

WINNIPEG, MANTOBA 

TAMPA BAY, FLORIDA 

The NHL will be well positioned to compete on 

whatever new, more level playing fi eld emerges 

over the next few seasons. 

its ESPN contract. This fall, the team 

solved the problem by hiring Los Angeles 

Daily News writer Rich Hammond to 

be its full-time blogger. He now does 

just about the same thing he did at 

the LADN but gets his checks from 

the team instead of a publisher. The 

result: Though whatever wall may have 

existed between writer and subject 

has basically been dismantled, Kings 

fans now get coverage by the same 

writer they’ve been reading for almost 

a decade. 

The Washington Capitals have long 

been at the forefront of the NHL’s 

digital experiment, having been 

among the fi rst teams to off er bloggers 

permanent seats at games. This actually 

isn’t too surprising, given that the 

team is owned by Ted Leonsis, who 

spent the better (and certainly most 

QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC 

HAMILTON, ONTARIO 

LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK 

profi table) part of his career in various 

positions at AOL during the internet 

giant’s salad days. 

As Leonsis candidly told the Canadian 

Broadcasting Corporation’s program 

Hockey Night in Canada, the wood stove 

around which the Canadian hockey 

world gathers, “Hockey’s not going to 

make it big on television. We’ve tried for 

twenty years. We have to be the most 

new-media savvy league and go where 

the puck is going to be. I don’t think 

it’s anything to fear. I think it’s a 

business and social imperative that we 

have to embrace.” 

The Islanders, also suff ering in a 

world of reduced print space, have gone 

a step further. Next to the free seats 

off ered to salaried mainstream media 

in the press box, the team installed a 

“Blog Box,” where independent bloggers 

have covered the games with the same 

level of access as their traditional-media 

brethren since 2007. As many as 175 

bloggers applied for spots in the box 

last year, and the team chose 13. Now, 

instead of the usual coterie of frustrated 

novelists and ink-stained eggheads, the 

people covering the Islanders include 

such everymen as an air conditioning 

service tech and an electrician. On 

opening day, at least one of the bloggers 

showed up for work in regular fan 

attire: an Islanders jersey. 

Like other leagues, the NHL 

has embraced every kind of social 

networking site, from MySpace to 

Facebook, and keeps a full-time 

social media staff er at its New York 

headquarters. This August, the Tampa 

Bay Lightning made history in fewer 

than 140 characters by becoming the 

fi rst professional team in any major 

sport to announce a trade by means of 

a tweet. 

The NHL streams games, too, and for 

$20 a month, or $159 a year, a fan can 

purchase games and have them fed to a 

computer via the league’s GameCenter 

Live. Some games, however, are blacked

out locally because of deals with cable 

companies. This may have dissuaded 

some from dumping their local cable 

service, but the league is obviously 

still mindful of alienating whatever 

television presence remains (local 

teams can often still be seen on local 

cable channels). The NHL’s senior 

vice president of digital media, Perry 

Cooper, notes that about half the fan 

base roots for teams outside their 

home market, which is a boon to the 

internet operation. The NHL doesn’t 

release GameCenter subscriber 

numbers, but Cooper says it’s 

seen about a 70 percent growth in 

subscribers year over year. 

The NHL also makes the games 

available on other sites immediately 

after they’ve aired in home markets. 

Go to Hulu, the high-quality video 

hub started last year by Fox and NBC, 

and you’ll fi nd full-length recent NHL 

games archived in a free feed. The NHL 

has struck similar deals with Yahoo! 

and iTunes, and in the process it created 

a sort of ad hoc DVR for its fans. 

There are other, less legitimate 

formats as well. Some frustrated 

(or just cheap) NHL fans have been 

pirating streams from cable and 

throwing them up on the web. NHL 

offi cials say that they “go after” such 

evildoers, but there haven’t been any 

high-profi le prosecutions—which 

could indicate a sophisticated view 

of how brand marketing works. Like 

Grateful Dead bootlegs, pirated NHL 

streams bolster other sources of 

income for the league—namely, tickets 

and merchandise—while building an 

audience for a league that will be well 

positioned to play on whatever new, 

more level, playing fi eld emerges over 

the next few seasons. 

Can the NHL ever imagine itself as a 

totally digital sport? “Right now, people 

need those sixty-inch HD games, and 

cable can give those to them,” says 

Cooper, somewhat diplomatically. “Only 

time will tell what happens next.” 

BRYANT URSTADT also plays hockey without 

major broadcast coverage—in a men’s league 

in Queens, New York. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Incredible Shrinking Plate 

If Spanish tapas superstar José Andrés has his way, the dinner 

entrée might fi nally gets its just desserts. // BY ADAM BAER 

“BEHIND YOU!” bellows a young sous 

chef delivering a bowl of eggs to the 

immersion circulator sitting in front 

of me. I shuffl e out of his way, and he 

drops the eggs into the simmering water 

alongside vacuum-packed fi sh fi lets 

cooking slowly in the contemporary 

“sous vide” style. To my right, one 

chef checks a digital order screen, à la 

McDonald’s; to my left, another chef 

turns out six perfectly composed plates 

of salmon and crème foam; behind 

me, a cook quickly assembles “Philly 

¡OLÉ MATADOR! Chef Andrés carves a 

jamon before a portrait of Manolete. 


food&drink 

cheesesteaks,” bullets of hollow “air 

bread” that are fi lled with cheddar 

cream and topped with wagyu beef, 

and beyond her, more than 40 other 

cooks work at various delicate fi nedining 

preparations as if their lives were 

on the line. 

I’m in the stainless steel, high-tech 

59

60 


kitchen of The Bazaar by José Andrés 

at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, 

which opened just over a year ago and 

has since become the nation’s most 

talked-about restaurant. Even though 

it’s already 10 p.m., Andrés, the feisty 

star chef of the hit PBS show Made in 

Spain, has just turned up after dining on 

tapas (small plates) with friends in the 

restaurant’s private dining room. Redfaced 

and beefy, Andrés, 40, is only in 

town for a few days—he shows up in L.A. 

about once a month—and already he’s 

packed in a rousing talk at a restaurant 

industry conference (“You must 

invest in your R&D!” he told a room of 

captivated CEOs), an early morning 

interview, a meeting with partners and 

a GQ photo shoot. The Bazaar kitchen is 

carefully designed to operate smoothly 

without him—the chef has three kids, 

a wife, a house, and seven restaurants 

in Washington, D.C.—and tonight, his 

team’s churning out plates for hundreds 

of stylish diners, including Anthony 

Hopkins and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, 

here to sample not only the chef’s 

innovative take on tapas but the highenergy 

space as well. 

The 417-seat Bazaar, a free-form new 

“dining concept,” is a little like a swanky 

food court with wait service—an 

“indoor piazza” cooked up by Andrés 

in concert with renowned designer 

and partner Philippe Starck, and SLS 

founder and hospitality impresario Sam 

Nazarian. It’s an all-new type of eatery: 

dining as participatory postmodern 

theater. “We’ve broken down walls,” 

Andrés tells me. “It’s like a little town.” 

Walking in, there’s an outpost of the 

luxury design store Moss to your right; 

statuesque women and men peer at 

pricey tchotchkes resting in illuminated 

vitrines. Toward the rear of the space, 

“I’d prefer it if I didn’t have to concentrate 

so much in the Spanish tradition,” José Andrés says. 

“But if I don’t do it, who will ?” 

CAN DO Tinned mussels and king crab are 

two of The Bazaar’s latas y conservios. 

HOW BAZAAR Andrés and two other chefs toil behind The Bazaar’s jamon y queso bar. 

one fi nds Bar Centro, the dark, loungey 

cocktail and raw bar where bartenders 

present margaritas topped with “salt 

air” and “magic” mojitos poured over 

cotton candy. To the bar’s right resides a 

fanciful patisserie, where deconstructed 

desserts and homemade candies tempt 

some to skip dinner. And on the far 

left is the main event, two back-to-back 

tapas bars separated by a fl oating 

wall. One, Blanca, decorated in blonde 

wood and white fabric, sets the stage 

for contemporary tapas: tiny jicama 

pouches fi lled with guacamole, liquefi ed 

“olives” served on white spoons, foie 

gras–cotton candy “lollipops,” and 

faux miso linguini. Rojo, the other 

side, sports darker wood and photos 

of matadors; it’s designed to evoke the 

spirit of more traditional tapas like 

scallops romesco and jamon Iberico, 

from acorn-fed pigs. (Andrés is a 

partner in a company that produces this 

acclaimed ham, which he brought to the 

U.S. for the fi rst time last year.) 

The Bazaar is Andrés’ eighth and 

largest restaurant, a new frontier for 

the chef-owner of hit Washington, 

D.C., eateries including Congressional 

favorites like Jaleo, Café Atlántico, 

Zaytinya and minibar that span 

a variety of cuisines but mostly 

emphasize, expand and reinterpret 

the Spanish tapas philosophy, which 

has recently overtaken the American 

culinary world. Blame Andrés, if you 

must, for the demise of the entrée, but 

remember, his small plates are more 

interesting and fl avorful than most, 

and few of those who’ve tried his food 

would have it any other way. 

At minibar, an elite six-seat station 

inside Café Atlántico, Andrés has 

pioneered a new form of Spanishinfl 

ected avant-garde cuisine that 

calls for very small plates; it’s also his 

private laboratory, where he creates 

new dishes and then puzzles out how 

to produce them on a large scale across 

his growing empire. “I may do a dish 

at minibar that I cannot do for four 

thousand people a day,” he says. “But 

I can extract touches of that idea and 

bring them to the masses.” A shrewd 

businessman, he’s a 

partner with Starck 

and Nazarian in the 

SLS hotel brand, as 

opposed, say, to just 

being the celebrity 

chef-owner of the 

eatery. The only 

restaurant to receive 

four stars from the 

Los Angeles Times in 

recent memory, The 

Bazaar will be the 

BOARDING PASS 

United, L.A.’s No. 1 

airline, connects the 

No. 2 U.S. city with 

points throughout 

North America, Asia, 

Australia and Europe. 

So no matter where 

you are in the 

world, an experience 

at The Bazaar might 

be just a nonstop 

fl ight away. 

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JAMES MERRELL

PHOTOGRAPHS BY DARKO ZAGAR 

food&drink 

fi rst in a series. SLS Hotels has plans to 

redo Miami’s Ritz Plaza and the Sahara 

Las Vegas, installing a Bazaar in each. 

Andrés started his cooking career 

at age 15, choosing Barcelona’s best 

culinary school over a traditional 

high school. He soon wound up in the 

Michelin-starred kitchen of El Bulli, 

created by Ferran Adrià, the master of 

the avant-garde culinary movement, 

whom Andrés calls “the pope.” 

When Andrés opened his fi rst 

restaurants in Washington 16 years ago, 

TAKE A BITE Japanese tacos fi lled with eel 

(top) and panna cotta with apricot gelatin 

Spain was having a moment—but even 

today some people think “Spanish food” 

and still picture rice and beans. “We 

still have a long way to go, which is one 

of the reasons I have to work,” Andrés 

says. “Ninety-nine percent of paellas are 

not really paella! But we’re going to see a 

big acceleration in Spanish cuisine soon. 

I’d prefer it I didn’t have to concentrate 

so much in the Spanish tradition, but if I 

don’t do it, who will?” 

Andrés regularly dispels the 

widespread belief that he alone brought 

tapas to America, but he’s passionate 

about his role in their development. 

“What is true is that no one was really 

doing tapas the way I did,” he says. 

“Portions were bigger. A table of four 

might have four plates to share. My table 

of four had ten or twelve even smaller 

plates, and that was a dramatic change.” 

The chef believes dining should be 

more social, more fun and more varied. 

Others seem to agree. “Tapas now 

shows up in the most absurd places. 

Korean, American…. And the ones that 

don’t want to create tapas do it anyway 

and call it ‘small dishes.’” In addition 

to the new outposts of The Bazaar, 

Andrés is also hatching plans for an 

airport restaurant concept and a new 

Washington minibar. Asked how he 

keeps on top of everything, he evokes 

Napoleon. “He waged war, but he was 

not just a warrior,” Andrés says. “He 

was a master of logistics.” 

I congratulate him on having Yorke 

and Hopkins in the restaurant on the 

same night. “Also Luke Perry!” he says, 

demonstrating a surprising knowledge 

of teen-oriented ’90s television. Then he 

lets out a raucous laugh and squeezes 

my shoulder the way he does many 

of his staff ers before heading back into 

the dining room. I watch as he sits 

down at a VIP booth, leans back and 

begins to chat animatedly with his 

customers. Meanwhile, as fast as the 

kitchen can turn out those little plates, 

waiters scoop them up and carry them 

out into the world. 

L.A.-based journalist ADAM BAER loves 

small plates, as long as there are enough 

of them. 

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industry 

IN LATE SEPTEMBER, a gaggle of 50-odd 

bloggers gathered 36 fl oors above 

Central Park in a conference room at the 

Mandarin Oriental Hotel, snapping pics 

of the dramatic views. The writers were 

moms and dads mostly, all anxiously 

awaiting a product that promised to 

change their lives. “What happens when 

you try to chop veggies in a food processor?” 

celeb chef Robin Miller asked the 

crowd. “Mushy!” someone called back. 

“Mushy!” Miller agreed, stuffi ng the 

Ninja Master Prep with mushrooms. 

“Look at that! One, two, three pulses. 

Your mushrooms? Done.” The crowd 

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Parental Guidance 

With mommy blogs proliferating, big corporations 

have begun cultivating authors with freebies, 

trips and even cash. Now readers are wondering, 

does mother really know best? 

BY SARAH WILDMAN // ILLUSTRATIONS BY JAMES MAJOWSKI 

going to make my life so much easier!” 

blogged one mom later that day. “I so 

want to make the curry chicken salad!” 

tweeted another. 

Infomercial? Sort of. But this isn’t 

late-night TV. It’s the new reality 

of parental blogging: shilling for 

companies in exchange for freebies and 

trips to fun locales. 

It used to be the defi nition of a 

mommy (or daddy) blogger was a 

parent anxious to navigate the tricky 

shoals of child-rearing by confi ding 

in the outside world, chatting away 

in the internet’s electronic sandbox. 

That was before audiences exploded. 

63


64 industry 

With some sites boasting 500,000 

readers a month, these bloggers have 

become coveted corporate mouthpieces, 

showered in everything from onesies 

and granola bars to strollers and video 

game consoles. 

That’s not to say every mom blogger 

has sold out to big business. At this 

point, conservative estimates place 

the number of mom and dad bloggers 

in the millions—and most of them 

still post about the agonies of potty 

training and sleep, or lack thereof. But 

it’s not so much their content as their 

prospective audiences that have made 

corporate America take notice. “Moms 

control about 2.1 trillion dollars in 

the United States,” says Maria Bailey, 

whose marketing and consulting fi rm 

BSM Media specializes in marketing to 

mothers, “and about eighty-six percent 

of all household income.” 

More important, the blogs are 

incredibly infl uential. “One of the 

appeals for companies working with 

bloggers is that it is not advertising,” 

says Greg Allen, the dad behind Daddy 

Types, a smart site for new fathers 

that boasts just under 250,000 unique 

visitors each month and eschews 

paid posts. “It undercuts all the 

suspiciousness about ads because it is 

‘real people’ talking about ‘real things.’” 

MOTHER’S LITTLE 

HELPERS 

A few of the 

best—and most 

trustworthy— 

mommy blogs 

COOLMOMPICS.COM 

Kirsten Chase and 

Liz Gumbinher bring 

a witty style and 

real integrity to their 

posts about indie 

designers. 

“Initially, we were blogging because 

we enjoyed the community aspect of 

it and the feedback, and a lot of us 

wrote to feel less alone,” says Heather 

Armstrong of Dooce (a relative oldtimer, 

having blogged the better part 

of the last decade). With nearly a 

half-million unique visitors a month, 

the site carries ads from Verizon and 

Starbucks and earns enough to support 

Armstrong’s family. “Public relations 

reps are now reaching out to women 

saying ‘talk about this’ and ‘link to this,’ 

and the bloggers fi gure, ‘Oh, my God. 

They think I’m important!’ not realizing 

they are giving away free advertising,” 

she says. Armstrong keeps advertising 

and editorial content separate, but not 

everyone colors within those careful 

ethical lines. 

Take Amy Clark, who launched 

MomAdvice almost six years ago. At 

fi rst she focused on her own family’s 

techniques for “living well, on less.” 

Her blog brought in a slew of readers. 

That’s when Walmart came knocking. 

“They want moms who live those 

values,” she says of being frugal, 

adding, “I only accept campaigns that 

fi t with my audience.” She became one 

of Walmart’s ElevenMoms—mothers 

who’ve agreed to endorse Walmart and 

blog on the company’s website (the 

Heather Armstrong, 

listed by Forbes as 

one of America’s top 

50 women in media, 

offers unadulterated 

musings on 

motherhood. 

Launched by Greg 

Allen, a hipster 

techie with an 

eye for design, 

DaddyTypes brings 

a guy’s eye to the 

world of baby goods. 

number is now well above the initial 11). 

Clark has also worked with Pantene, 

the shampoo company, on a challenge 

to see if home hair can look as good as 

salon hair, and she’s a spokeswoman for 

Cascade. But back on her blog, stories 

are still true to her initial intent: family 

life on the cheap. “I only want really 

good-quality content for my readers,” 

she says. “As long as you’re authentic 

and you have integrity and aren’t just 

out to get a freebie, your readers will 

know that.” 

At MommyGoggles, the FAQ page 

issues requests for sponsorships, 

conference invites, free family trips and 

other gimmes. “I put a LOT of energy 

and thought into my posts,” the author 

promises corporations seeking reviews 

DOOCE.COM DADDYTYPES.COM SUBURBANBLISS.COM NOTESFROMTHE 

Detroit mom blogger 

Melissa Summers 

launched an online 

frenzy when she 

admitted to having 

a glass of wine 

during playdates. 

TRENCHES.COM 

Chris Jordan has 

won several 

awards for her blog 

about her kids—all 

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66 industry 

of their wares. “I want to promote your 

product the best that I can.” While she 

reserves the right not to post about a 

product that does not seem relevant, 

she adds quickly, “To date, I have not 

received an item for review that I did 

not feel fi t my website or my readers.” 

“It started with coupons,” says 

Lynette Young, whose marketing fi rm, 

Purple Stripe Productions, focuses on 

social media. “Then samples. Then it 

was the full product, and then it went 

on to sending samples to give away 

in sponsored contests.” For instance, 

Nicole Feliciano of MomTrends, a 

New York City–based shopping site 

for moms that gets 15,000 visitors 

a month, has received upward of 60 

strollers for review. “Everything I write 

about, I’ve touched, seen and worked 

with personally,” she explains. 

“I wish that, at this point, I did a little 

more just writing,” sighs Naomi Shapiro, 

an attendee of the Ninja Prep demo 

who writes SuperDumbSuperVillain. 

“The review part has kind of, over time, 

taken over the personal blogging more 

than I would like. We are all reviewing 

the same things these days.” 

Some are taking the idea of “reviews” 

even further. Over at ClassyMommy, 

Colleen Padilla’s disclosure page states 

upfront that posts can be purchased. 

Is ClassyMommy, which has received 

more than 1,500 products for review, 

still a blog or a new kind of advertising? 

And what about Frito-Lay’s “Fab15” 

bloggers and the “Frigidaire Test Drive 

Moms,” gaggles of hand-selected mom 

bloggers who regularly receive goods 

from these brands to post about them? 

“It used to be the majority of mom 

bloggers were really great quality,” 

says Ellen Diamant, half of the übersuccessful 

duo behind Skip*Hop, 

creators of a ubiquitous diaper bag and 

other baby gear. “But now we get crazy 

requests like, ‘Here is my blog. Send 

me stuff .’ And you go and look, and it’s 

really poorly done.” 

“We vet so many requests a day,” 

says Tricia Chan, whose PR fi rm 

Public Group reps big names including 

Maclaren strollers. Many a parent, 

Chan says, salivates at the thought of a 

free buggy. “It went from ten or twenty 

requests a month to forty a week.” At 

the beginning of the mommy/daddy 

blogging boom the requests were no big 

deal. “Before, we’d just send it,” she says. 

“Now you have to look into analytics 

and see who they’re hyperlinked to.” 

“I want to promote your product the 

best that I can,” one malleable mom blogger 

promises on her site. 

The situation has raised eyebrows 

over at the Federal Trade Commission, 

which recently announced that it was 

changing the rules governing blogs 

(not just the mommy blogs), as well 

as Facebook and Twitter. Beginning 

December 1, bloggers must disclose 

paid posts, sponsored posts and items 

received for free. 

“Is it really possible that someone 

could attend an all-expenses-paid trip 

to a desirable location to see a fi fty 

dollar product demonstration, leave 

and write that they hated it?” wonders 

Jeremiah McNichols, half of the duo 

behind Z Recommends, a consumeradvocacy 

parenting blog. “I suppose 

it’s possible. But it does not appear to 

happen.” That’s what worried the FTC: 

Even if such posts aren’t advertising 

per se, it can be hard to separate the 

sponsored from the genuine. 

Predictably, the rules change has 

come under furious assault on First 

Amendment grounds. But whatever 

happens with the new mandate, 

marketers are learning to tread 

carefully on the info superhighway. 

It turns out, not all bloggers are 

equally malleable. “There are mom 

bloggers who will go and bash a 

product, and people are worried about 

that,” says Diamant. 

Take McNichols and his wife, 

Jennifer, at Z Recommends. The site, 

which began in 2006 as a way for the 

couple to discuss the products they 

were using while raising now-fi veyear-old 

Zella, has become the Upton 

Sinclair of parent blogs, spending 

months researching, for instance, 

which companies were using BPA—a 

compound that has been shown to 

damage the endrocrine system when 

ingested in large quantities—in the 

production of sippy cups and bottles. 

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When we started It’s Just Lunch eighteen years ago, 

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DATING SPECIALIST 

How does It’s Just Lunch “match” singles? 

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Ramblin’ Man 

What happens when a boy’s obsession with 

traveling becomes a very grown-up affl iction? 

I’M WRITING THIS not from my apartment 

in New York but from my parents’ 

South Florida living room overlooking 

the Atlantic Ocean. Why? Because three 

days ago I needed to do laundry and 

wanted to go for a nice, long run on the 

beach. There were other problems, too. 

A street lamp outside my window had 

started to go out. At night, its bulb fi lled 

my block with a loud, brain-rattling 

squeal. Also, I’d run out of dishwashing 

liquid—not to mention paper towels, 

bottled water and microwaveable 

macaroni and cheese—and the dishes 

had piled up so high that I’d invented 

a new verb (“ziggurating”) to describe 

BY MARTIN MARKS // ILLUSTRATIONS BY NATSKO SEKI 

their slow creep toward the ceiling. 

Those were all things I didn’t want 

to deal with. And so, two days later, I 

showed up in Fort Lauderdale—1,100 

miles away—with my duff el bag and a 

pair of running shoes. 

“Martin’s home,” my mom called out. 

My dad popped his head around the 

corner, a bit bewildered. “Oh,” he said. 

“Did he leave?” 

I could understand his confusion. It 

was my second time down here in less 

than 10 days. But it used to be worse. 

Much worse. A few years ago, I was 

traveling so much that my New York 

friends thought I’d moved back down 

diary 


ROME IF YOU WANT TO And Sydney, 

Paris and Miami—all at once. 

to Florida, while my Florida friends 

had no idea where I lived. Truth was, I 

was living everywhere, yet nowhere. In 

any given month, I might be paddling 

down tributaries of the Amazon in a 

dugout canoe, crashing in a tent outside 

Pompeii during an especially hot 

Neapolitan summer, grading papers 

in the smoky terminals of Malpensa 

airport, hopping a bullet train from 

Kyoto to Tokyo, or surfi ng at San Onofre 

State Beach. In 27 years, I’d lived on 

three continents and traveled to all 

the rest (except Antarctica, which is 

too cold). There was always another 

suitcase, another ticket, another fl ight. 

69

70 


I bear the burden of refusing to 

be grounded, of kicking against 

permanence. It’s an uphill battle. 

Especially when travel websites fi ll my 

inbox with email after email detailing 

their last-minute vacation packages. 

For various reasons—most of them 

involving said websites, some of them 

involving laundry—I don’t think I’ve 

stayed in one place for more than two 

months. Ever. There was once a popular 

term that described this passion as the 

vice that it really is: Wanderlust. I’m 

bringing it back. In fact, I’ve started 

capitalizing the “W” to diff erentiate 

between innocent postcollege summers 

spent backpacking around Europe and 

the full-blown case of Wanderlust that I 

eventually developed. 

I suppose my condition was 

incubating long before I was born. 

My dad joined the Royal Air Force 

right after medical school. During his 

fi ve years in Her Majesty’s service, he 

lived in Germany and Cyprus, slept in 

abandoned leper colonies and dangled 

from helicopters above the icy North 

Sea, before becoming a heart surgeon. 

My mom played international tennis, 

volleying from the clay courts of Roland 

Garros to the soft lawns of Wimbledon. 

They met on a hotel pool deck in Cape 

Town and were engaged two weeks later. 

For the fi rst few years of their marriage, 

they traveled. And traveled some 

more—to Taiwan and Hawaii, to North 

Carolina to see the Jaws opening run and 

to New York for cheesecake at Carnegie 

Deli. But they wanted to start a family, 

and children meant bottles and diapers 

and nursery rhymes, not tray tables 

and baggage carousels and prefl ight 

safety announcements. When my mom 

got pregnant, they decided to kick their 

Wanderlust à deux—cold turkey. 

After less than a month, they 

relapsed. At three weeks old, I was 

sitting on my mother’s lap on a fl ight 

bound for the Bahamas, soaring high 

BATH WHIZ Reading Cheever in the tub 

leads to a Wanderlust epiphany. 

above the world I’d just entered. By 

the time I was two, I had already fl own 

116,334 miles. By my 10th birthday, 

I’d been tear-gassed and infected with 

parasites. That same year, my dad tried 

to buy four Coca-Colas at an airport 

in Zimbabwe. The barman pulled a 

machine gun on us. Then, for the very 

reasonable price of $20 a bottle, the 

barman put down his Kalashnikov and 

gave us our drinks. With a smile. 

Meanwhile, of course, I’d seen the 

world. And I loved every minute of 

it. My youthful memories are viewed 

through the prism of a Boeing 747. I 

built my childhood fortresses not with 

sofa cushions but with thin airplane 

I built my childhood fortresses not with 

sofa cushions but with thin airplane blankets 

draped over seatbacks. 

blankets draped over seatbacks. My 

occasional stomachaches were treated 

by friendly fl ight attendants bearing 

ginger ale. After another young 

Wanderluster—my sister—joined the 

family, our pillow fi ghts were largely 

ineff ectual battles, thanks to those small 

airline pillows. When I started school, 

my tray table became a collapsible desk. 

I ate Goldfi sh crackers in the airport 

lounge at Heathrow for my afternoon 

snack. We were a family united by a love 

of wandering, and I was always along 

for the fl ight. 

I slowed down a little for high school 

and college, but after that my condition 

increased markedly in severity. One 

Wednesday afternoon, the thought 

crossed my mind that I’d never been 

to Machu Picchu. By Friday I was 

standing outside my friend’s apartment 

in Cuzco wearing New Balances and an 

elementary school backpack, convinced 

that this was all we’d need to conquer 

the Inca Trail. (I fi nally acquiesced to 

my friend’s far more mundane idea of 

taking the train.) 

The advent of travel websites—no 

more telephone calls, no more travel 

agents—meant that I could meander 

the fi rmament free from third-party 

interlopers. I upgraded to a new credit 

card seeking the extra miles, airport 

lounges, free sodas (the free sodas alone 

paid for the credit card). I began to 

spend more time in airports than I did 

in my own bedroom. 

But where to next? What if a family 

wedding at one end of the globe 

coincided with a writer’s conference 

at the other? No problem. My life was 

in constant motion. From Miami to 

Los Angeles to Sydney to Cairns I’d 

go, backtracking from Sydney to Los 

Angeles to Miami, and then on to Paris 

and St. Petersburg. That particular 

odyssey took place in 12 days, after 

which my fi rst two weeks in Russia 

were a cacophonous blur. I didn’t know 

when to eat or sleep. And I couldn’t 

have been happier. I was a full-blown 

Wanderluster—with all of its attendant 

side eff ects. 

Later that year, I was reading John

diary 

Cheever in a marble bathtub at a hotel 

in Los Angeles when I realized that 

there’d been a change. I was living in 

New York, but it hadn’t quite taken, and 

a weeklong stay on the West Coast had 

entered its second month. “When you’re 

in one place and long to be in another, it 

isn’t as simple as taking a boat,” I read, 

as I sat in the lukewarm tub. “You don’t 

really long for another country. You 

long for something in yourself that you 

don’t have, or haven’t been able to fi nd.” 

In my case, that wasn’t quite true. 

Instead of longing for something inside 

of me, I had been avoiding the search 

altogether. Adventure had somehow 

become an escape from life, a way of 

standing still. While my friends were 

getting married, having children, 

paying mortgages, losing jobs—all the 

sloppy things of life—I had abandoned 

any sense of permanence in exchange 

for perpetual motion. For the fi rst time, 

the travel felt compulsive, involuntary. 

The joy was missing. 

At a wedding in Florida around 

Valentine’s Day 2007, I had a revelation. 

Surrounded by old friends and 

classmates, I stared up at the dark 

cloudless February sky on one of the 

coldest nights on record and began 

to think of the fast-moving clouds as 

they crept across Cape Town’s Table 

Mountain, and the dawn casting its 

orange light through a lace curtain in 

Rome. I thought of the endless lime 

green of rice fi elds after a downpour 

in southern Japan, the corn fi elds and 

wheat fi elds, Niagara Falls and Iguazu 

Falls. With Cheever’s words ringing in 

my head, and with the faces of loved ones 

before me, I felt that I found what I’d been 

wandering for. As we talked long into the 

night after the wedding, I realized that in 

all my ramblings and peregrinations, I 

had never been as content as I was at that 

moment, among people I knew and loved. 

Man, I thought, if only I could 

persuade each and every one of them to 

come with me to Corfu. It’s absolutely 

gorgeous in the spring. 

MARTIN MARKS divides his time between 

Palm Beach, Florida, and New York— 

depending on how much laundry he has. 

www.ibear.com 

213-740-7140 

ibearmba@marshall.usc.edu 

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artifact 


In Tulum, Mexico, a shaman burns shards of 

aromatic copal resin during a temezcal—an ancient Mayan cleansing 

ceremony involving chants and 

a sauna of sorts. 

74 

THE GIRLS 

OF SUMMER 

Three contenders 

are ready to spar. 

By Tricia Despres 

P. 

88 

82 

CRAZY TOURIST 

Gabriel Orozco 

sees art just about 

everywhere. 

By Aaron Gell 

88 

3PD: RIVIERA 

MAYA Leaving 

those other rivieras 

in the dust 

By Mike Guy 

73

74 

THE GIRLS OF 

SUMMER 

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, WOMEN BOXERS WILL COMPETE IN THE 

FIGHTERS CONSIDERED TOP GOLD MEDAL CONTENDERS, THE 

THAT THEY AREN’T LIGHTWEIGHTS. 

BY TRICIA DESPRES 

PHOTOGRAPHS BY THOMAS CHADWICK 

UNITED.COM 

DECEMBER 2009

OLYMPICS, IN LONDON’S 2012 SUMMER GAMES. FOR THE THREE CHICAGO 

HARDEST PART MAY BE PROVING TO THE WORLD

S SAMANTHA 

76 

SAMANTHA GUZMAN, 20 

REIGNING ILLINOIS STATE U.S. CHAMPION (FLYWEIGHT) 

HEIGHT: 5' 2" • WEIGHT: 101 lbs 

AMATEUR RECORD: 21–5 

HOMETOWN: OAK PARK, ILLINOIS 

GUZMAN EMERGES FROM THE LOCKER ROOM AT THE JABB 

BOXING GYM IN CHICAGO, AND THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE IS HER SHINING HAIR, WHICH SHE WRAPS 

DELICATELY INTO A BUN A FEW STRANDS AT A TIME AND THEN SECURES WITH A BUTTERFLY CLIP. THEN YOU 

NOTICE HER FINGERNAILS—LONG, PAINTED AND PERFECTLY SHAPED. SHE STUFFS HER HANDS INTO BRIGHT 

RED EVERLAST BOXING GLOVES, LACING THEM UP AS SHE WALKS PAST A WALL OF MIRRORS TOWARD THE RING. 

GUZMAN’S EYES, RIMMED WITH EYELINER, ARE PIERCING AND COLD, READY TO STARE DOWN HER OPPONENT. 

She steps into the ring with a sparring 

partner about her age—20 years old— 

and starts dancing lightly on the balls 

of her feet, then stepping quickly left 

and right. It’s that same movement 

you’ve seen time and again in footage of 

Muhammad Ali or Oscar De La Hoya 

or Rocky Balboa. She claps her gloves 

together, beckoning her opponent to 

make a move. 

Guzman is one of around 2,500 

female boxers in the United States whose 

future plans changed radically this past 

August, when the International Olympic 

Committee announced that women’s 

boxing will be a part of the 2012 Summer 

Olympic Games in London. Men’s boxing 

was added 105 years ago, and until 

August the sport was the only one in the 

Summer Olympics without a female 

discipline. Now Guzman and two other 

young boxers from Chicago, Tiff any Perez 

and Alicia Gutierrez, are considered 

top contenders to win the fi rst-ever gold 

medal in female boxing. 

After sparring a couple of rounds as 

her father and coach, Angel, watches 

closely and quietly off ers guidance, 

Guzman stands by a line of heavy bags. 

Weighing just a tick over 100 pounds, 

with limbs more slender than you might 

expect from a National Golden Gloves 

Women’s Champion, she is proud, 

confi dent, witty and full of opinions— 

not unlike Ali. A light rain is falling 

outside the wrought-iron casement 

windows. She says she’s no longer 

distracted by the things that rattled 

her when she started out. “I don’t think 

about the pain,” she says. “I think about 

the fact that the person standing in front 

of me in the ring wants to hurt me, break 

something, knock me down. Luckily, 

that’s when the adrenaline takes over. 

I open my eyes up as wide as I can. My 

ears are clear but I don’t hear anything. 

Everything goes silent.” 

Guzman’s career record is 21–5, and 

UNITED.COM 


ALICIA GUTIERREZ, 15 

JUNIOR OLYMPIC STATE CHAMPION 



HOMETOWN: PARK RIDGE, ILLINOIS 

she’s punched her way to Illinois State 

U.S. Champion and a national ranking 

in the light fl yweight division. Despite 

her bluster, the stats surprise her. “I was 

the little girl who would skin her knee 

and run to hide behind my dad,” she says. 

“Now the same dad I hid behind is my 

coach, always encouraging me.” 

Once known as “Scrawny Sam,” 

Guzman told her parents she wanted 

to box back in 2005, after three years 

competing in gymnastics. “I remember 

my dad telling me that you don’t ‘play’ 

boxing. You ‘play’ soccer. You ‘play’ 

basketball. But this is boxing. You can 

get hurt.” Her parents tried to talk her 

out of it, even taking Samantha to a 

showing of Clint Eastwood’s Oscarwinning 

weeper Million Dollar Baby, 

which doesn’t end well for the main 

character, a scrappy female boxer. The 

fi lm was meant to dissuade her, but the 

plan backfi red. 

HEMISPHERES.COM 

DECEMBER 2009 

“I saw that movie and knew right then 

and there I wanted to get into that ring,” 

she says. “I think people inherently don’t 

like women hitting each other. I happen 

to enjoy it.” 

Turns out she’s not the only one; 

a number of young competitors are 

preparing for the games. “In the last few 

months, we’ve already seen more and 

more female boxers working to shift their 

weight so they fall into one of the three 

categories,” says Christy Halbert, head 

of the U.S.A. Boxing women’s task force. 

“Of course, we were disappointed that 

they are only off ering the three weight 

classes. The men have ten. Hopefully the 

remaining ones will be added in 2016.” 

In London, women will compete at 

fl yweight (105–112 pounds), lightweight 

(123–132 pounds) and middleweight 

(152–165 pounds). With four medals 

awarded in each class, a little math 

shows there’s enough room for only 

TIFFANY PEREZ, 20 

CHICAGO GOLDEN GLOVES CHAMPION (THREE YEARS RUNNING) 



HOMETOWN: HAMMOND, INDIANA 

12 female boxers from around the 

world to make it to the podium. By 

comparison, 40 medals will be handed 

out to the men. 

“Just twelve women out of the entire 

world?” exclaims Guzman, who’s old 

enough to know that her only shot at the 

Olympics will be in London. “That’s not 

an Olympic Games, that’s an exhibition! 

For us, the world championships are 

more like the Olympics than the actual 

Olympics will be. Of course, I’m pretty 

psyched we’ll get the chance.” 

Halbert isn’t convinced it’s merely an 

exhibition. “These boxers are going to 

have to perform at the top of every level 

before they get to London,” she says. 

“The top echelon in their weight classes, 

then the top echelons internationally. 

But I think that no matter how they do, 

just participating in this fi ght to make 

the very fi rst female Olympic team is an 

impressive part of sports history.” 

77

“WHEN I’M TRAINING, 

I DON’T HAVE A LIFE,” SAYS TIFFANY PEREZ. 

“BOXING IS MY LIFE.”

00 

UNITED.COM 


AT FOUR FEET, 11 INCHES, 

Tiff any Perez is tiny, but that’s not 

her greatest obstacle. She was diagnosed 

with severe asthma at the age of four, 

around the same time she fi rst started 

watching Puerto Rican superstar boxers 

Felix Trinidad and, later, Miguel Cotto 

fi ghting on TV. Her fascination grew. 

Still, when she fi rst stepped into the ring 

at 13, no one fi gured she had the fortitude 

to jog around the block twice, much less 

make a serious run at Olympic gold. 

“My parents thought I would quit 

the very fi rst time I got hit square in the 

face,” says Perez, who’s now a pre-med 

student at Purdue University. “They 

would tell me, ‘You don’t want to fi ght,’ 

or say, ‘Why would you want to mess up 

your face?’ They were surprised when I 

told them I could handle it—again and 

again and again.” 

“We always say her head moves are 

straight out of The Matrix,” says her father, 

Jimmy, a former tae kwon do instructor 

who works 12-hour shifts at a local 

manufacturing plant. “You don’t tell 

Tiff any what to do. She just does it.” 

Perez travels an hour into Chicago 

from her home in the middle-class 

suburb of Hammond, Indiana, to train 

with her coach, Rick Furnuto. At home, 

she works out in the basement gym that 

her father built for her in the family’s 

house. She wears a necklace with a gold 

pendant of a boxing glove and competes 

in a shorts-skirt combo embroidered 

with the Puerto Rican fl ag. 

“When I am training, I don’t have a 

life,” explains Perez, who is the Chicago 

Golden Gloves Champion three years 

running. “Boxing is my life.” 

That’s a sentiment shared by her 

fellow boxers. You don’t “play” boxing. 

“It kind of sucks that I didn’t go 

to prom or my homecoming,” says 

Guzman, whose perfect teeth and fi ne 

features should make her a sought-after 

date. “I’ve lost a lot of friends and missed 

all kinds of trips to McDonald’s.” 

Perez and Guzman know each other 

well, though they’re not the closest of 

friends. They travel the same circuit of 

regional and national bouts, and spend 

a lot of time in the same locker rooms. As 

Guzman once confi ded to a local reporter, 

“I’ve never been a team player.” But they 

share an obsession. It’s like a sisterhood. 

HEMISPHERES.COM 


ALICIA GUTIERREZ IS READY TO RUMBLE. 

“We boxers are a diff erent breed 

of human,” Perez says. “No one quite 

understands us or where we come from.” 

IT TOOK A FEW YEARS for 

the mother of 15-year-old Alicia 

Gutierrez to fi gure it out. Longtime 

Chicagoan Christina Gutierrez’s daughter 

fi rst came to her at seven years old asking 

to take boxing lessons. “I never took 

her seriously,” says the elder Gutierrez. 

“When she was in second grade, I 

signed her up for everything—ballet, 

T-ball, basketball, everything in the 

parks deparment brochure. She played 

basketball and ended up on a national 

championship team. But when she turned 

twelve, she started asking about boxing 

again. I had to give in.” 

Gutierrez, a Maine South High School 

sophomore, is taller than Perez and 

Guzman. She is learning always to go into 

a match with a plan neatly worked out in 

her head of how the match will unfold. 

“First round, I feel them out to see what 

kind of style they have,” she explains. 

“The second round, I fi gure out what I 

need to work on to beat her. The third 

round, I go for it.” 

Fights don’t always go according to 

plan. Like all boxers, male or female, her 

education has been, at times, brutal. 

“We were in Colorado last year for 

the national tournament, and in the fi rst 

round my opponent came at me with an 

uppercut that hit me right under the ribs,” 

Gutierrez says. “I froze. My eyes started to 

water, and I couldn’t breathe. But I never 

got scared. Being scared would keep me 

from going back in the ring.” 

“I’ve been ready to quit plenty of 

times,” says Guzman, who’d like to go 

pro. But she’s realistic. “I’m a small girl, 

and I’m not stupid. I know my body 

wasn’t built for this kind of wear and 

tear. I don’t know how much longer I can 

do this. Now there is a chance to compete 

in the Olympics. There is no way I’m 

going out without a fi ght.” 

Chicago writer TRICIA DESPRES is still 

uncomfortable with women hitting each other. 

81

CRAZY 

TOURIST 

BY AARON GELL PORTRAITS 

BY FIONA ABOUD 

CONCEPTUAL ARTIST GABRIEL OROZCO TRAVELS THE WORLD, 

FINDING ART IN THE MOST UNUSUAL PLACES. 

UNITED.COM DECEMBER 2009 

82

PHOTOGRAPHS THIS PAGE COURTESY OF MARIAN GOODMAN GALLERY, NEW YORK 

CREWS BATTLE 

1996 

EMPTY SHOE BOX 

1993 

IN1991, 

THE ARTIST GABRIEL OROZCO WENT TO BRAZIL TO BE 

WITH A GIRL. “I FOLLOWED HER BECAUSE I WAS IN LOVE, OKAY?” HE SAYS OF THE SPANISH ANTHROPOLOGY STUDENT 

WITH WHOM HE WAS SMITTEN (SHE’S NOW HIS WIFE). “IT WAS, YOU KNOW, ‘LET’S GO TO BRAZIL.’ ‘OKAY, WHATEVER!’” 

WHILE HIS COMPANION PURSUED HER FIELD STUDIES, OROZCO SPENT HIS DAYS WANDERING THE STREETS, 

THINKING ABOUT ART AND PHILOSOPHY AND POETRY AND LIFE, AND MOSTLY JUST LOOKING. THE 19TH 

CENTURY POET CHARLES BAUDELAIRE HAD A NAME FOR DEVOTEES OF THIS SORT OF URBAN EXPLORATION—HE 

CALLED THEM FLÂNEURS—ARISTOCRATIC GENTLEMEN WHO MADE AN ART FORM OUT OF STROLLING AIMLESSLY 

THROUGH PARIS, SOAKING UP THE IRONIC DETAILS OF MODERN LIFE. OROZCO WOULD TAKE THE PRACTICE A 

STEP FURTHER. WHEN THE URBAN LANDSCAPE DECLINED TO OFFER UP THE SORT OF POETRY HE SOUGHT, HE’D 

ROLL UP HIS SLEEVES AND CREATE IT. 

For instance, one day at dusk, Orozco found himself in 

the town marketplace in Cachoeira, a town in Bahia on the 

Paraguaçu River. The vendors had all gone home for the 

evening, and their rough-hewn wooden tables, normally 

laden with produce, were bare. A bustling town center by day, 

the place was deserted except for a handful of indigent men, 

who looked on quizically as the young visitor contemplated 

the scene for a moment, spied a pile of rotting oranges in the 

corner and began bustling around placing them on the tables, 

positioning the fruit just so. 

Orozco was performing what art world types might call “an 

intervention,” but his audience that evening just thought he was 

nuts. “Turista maluco!” they teased, as the artist took a few steps 

back and began to document the odd tableau with his camera. 

Truth be told, the resulting photograph, Crazy Tourist 

(which will be on view at the Museum of Modern Art in New 

York beginning December 13 as part of Orozco’s midcareer 

retrospective before traveling to the Kunstmuseum Basel and 

the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris) isn’t really much to 

look at. Then again, that’s kind of the idea. In fact, Gabriel 

Orozco is absolutely determined to underwhelm you. 

It might seem an odd ambition, but for Orozco, who 

HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM 


YOGURT CAPS 

1994 

grew up in Mexico City surrounded by art (his father was a 

prominent muralist and his mother a pianist), only a viewer 

whose expectations have been dashed and presumptions 

shattered will be truly receptive to the elusive poetry of the 

moment, the kind that can creep up on you and change the 

way you see the world. 

“Disappointment has always been important in my work,” 

the 48-year-old artist says with a smile, sitting at a sidewalk 

table at a coff ee shop in New York’s Greenwich Village. 

Dressed head to toe in black, Orozco is small and intense, with 

knowing eyes and slightly wild gray curls spilling over his 

ears. He currently divides his time between New York, Paris, 

Mexico City and Bonn, Germany, though he insists he feels 

at home everywhere. “It’s not just traveling,” he says. “I think 

of it as travel-living, really a multicountry life. And I feel like 

we’re really the fi rst generation to do this. We’re making it up 

as we go along.” With a four-year-old son, Simón, about to 

enter kindergarten, Orozco admits he may have to settle down 

soon. He’s leaning toward New York, where he’s currently 

overseeing construction work on a townhouse in the Village— 

not far, he points out with a raised eyebrow, from a Five Guys 

burger franchise. Orozco has an impish side, and while he 

85

MOBILE MATRIX 

2006 

generally gravitates to cerebral topics such as Monet’s Water 

Lilies and the music of avant-garde composer John Cage, he’s 

equally at home debating the merits of the Speed Racer movie, 

of which, perhaps surprisingly, he’s a big fan. 

Still, much as he loves the occasional visual extravaganza, 

he has no real interest in creating one. Having entered the art 

world at a time when in-your-face gestures and eye-popping— 

if not always profound—spectacles predominated, Orozco has 

generally headed in the opposite direction. 

“An artist can always entertain or amaze or amuse,” he says 

in his slightly accented English. “It’s not really very diffi cult 

to do that. But as usually happens with the spectacles put on 

by the entertainment industry, you tend to forget them as soon 

as you leave the theater or the gallery. Creating something 

that you actually remember later, that becomes important for 

you—that is not so easy.” 

That’s why, the artist adds, he tries so hard not to fulfi ll 

viewers’ expectations. “Because only if your expectations are 

unmet can the poetic happen.” 

This counterintuitive approach has made Orozco one of 

the most celebrated artists of his generation, widely praised 

for his cryptic and deceptively low-key touch. One of his 

most famous pieces is a photograph of condensation from his 

own breath on a grand piano; another depicts the ephemeral 

trails left by his bicycle tires passing through a puddle. He’s 

made mobiles from dryer lint and from ribbons of toilet paper 

suspended from ceiling fans. For one major European art fair 

in 1993, Orozco showed a piece titled Empty Shoe Box. (The real 

challenge of creating that work, he later said, was replacing 

the boxes when the custodial crew repeatedly tossed them out 

with the garbage.) 

And then there was Orozco’s fi rst solo show in New York, at 

Marian Goodman Gallery in 1994, which consisted of nothing 

more than four yogurt lids, affi xed to each of the gallery’s four 

walls. That piece, too, will be in the retrospective—and, yes, 

86 

La D.S. 

1993 

ELEVATOR 

1994 

in case anyone’s wondering, they’re actually the same lids. 

“They were in the hands of a young collector,” Orozco says 

incredulously. “He was crazy enough to buy them at the time. 

A New Yorker, of course.” 

It’s tempting to discount such work as silly at best, a total 

scam at worst. That’s exactly what many gallerygoers did 

when Yogurt Caps opened in 1994, emitting a knowing snort 

and heading down the block to the next gallery. 

But then, Orozco would later recall, they started trickling 

back in. And this time, instead of dismissing Yogurt Caps as a 

smug joke, they let themselves sit with the work and actually 

absorb its strange resonance. Some no doubt recognized the 

piece as a direct descendant of the readymades of Marcel 

Duchamp and of Andy Warhol’s famous Campbell’s soup 

cans. Others might have noticed how the caps seemed to form 

an invisible cross, turning the room into a sort of shrine (a 

reference perhaps to the Catholicism of Orozco’s homeland?). 

To others, the four caps recalled the points of a compass, 

prompting a new awareness of the empty space of the gallery 

itself, and of the cosmos beyond its walls. Because they were 

made of clear plastic, they were a little like windows or lenses, 

too, maybe portholes—but looking where? Some viewers 

studied the sell-by dates for some secret, like evidence at a 

crime scene. Others no doubt thought about the yogurt itself— 

suddenly transported, like Proust with his madeleine, by their 

own memories of breakfasts gone by. And what of the artist? 

Presumably he’d actually eaten this yogurt, in which case the 

piece was a kind of self-portrait once-removed, hinting at a 

favorite snack. And on and on... 

To Orozco, all possible interpretations are valid. Indeed, the 

piece itself is secondary to the response it provokes. His intent 

with Yogurt Caps was simply to evoke that web of connections, 

to give birth to a moment of poetic refl ection. “I want the art 

to be a kind of instrument for people to use for their own 

benefi t,” he says. “Art is not for entertainment, and it’s not for 

UNITED.COM 


FROM LEFT, PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF KURIMANZUTTO, MEXICO CITY; 

GALERIE CHANTAL CROUSEL, PARIS; MARIAN GOODMAN GALLERY, NEW YORK (4) 

PING POND TABLE 

1998 

UNTIL YOU 

FIND ANOTHER 

1995 

pleasure. It’s about something else altogether. Art is a tool. 

If someone, after looking at the work, can see things they 

never saw before in reality, that is one of the most important 

accomplishments for me.” 

While all of Orozco’s works share the same goal, they reach 

it by wildly divergent paths—after all, you can show only so 

many shoe boxes. Indeed, some pieces have been remarkably 

elaborate. There was, for instance, Mobile Matrix, which 

consisted of the enormous skeleton of a gray whale, inscribed 

with a series of radiating lines and suspended from the ceiling 

of the José Vasconcelos Library in Mexico City. La D.S. was 

a Citroën that the artist had sliced vertically into thirds then 

reassembled without its center slice. Elevator is an empty 

elevator, salvaged from a demolished Chicago offi ce tower 

and placed on its own in a gallery, lit invitingly within. And 

Ping Pond Table is more or less what it sounds like, but shaped 

like a four-leaf clover and with a lily pond in the center. In 

recent years, Orozco even returned to painting, going so far as 

to master Renaissance techniques for mixing pigments and 

applying gold leaf—an uncharacteristically traditional move 

that took the art world by surprise. 

Oddly, whatever the medium, Orozco’s pieces all feel exactly 

“ AN ARTIST CAN ALWAYS ENTERTAIN 

OR AMAZE OR AMUSE. 

CREATING SOMETHING THAT YOU 

ACTUALLY REMEMBER LATER—THAT IS 

NOT SO EASY.” 

HOME RUN 

1993 

like Orozcos. But then, in a way, so does everything else. Spend 

a little time around the artist’s work, and you begin to have the 

odd sensation of seeing it all around you. You notice things. 

I’m not sure how long the eff ect lasts, but after poring over his 

catalogs, struggling through a stack of dense scholarly essays 

and passing a pleasant morning with the artist himself, I fi nd 

I can’t walk a block without having an Orozco Moment. I spot 

a motor scooter locked up beside a lamppost and am reminded 

of a chained animal, of the potential for speed and escape, of a 

reclining fi gure by abstract sculptor Henry Moore. (Only later 

do I remember that Orozco has also used scooters in his 

work, in a 1995 piece comprising 40 photographs of the 

artist’s own yellow scooter parked next to identical bikes he 

encountered around Berlin.) I notice a section of construction 

fencing, a half-defl ated birthday balloon, the contents of 

a trash can—everyday fragments of city life, all suddenly 

pregnant with meaning. 

“That’s what’s really important about art,” Orozco says, “the 

possibility to see reality diff erently, to see things in a new way. 

The objects are just vehicles for awareness.” 

I ask him if he’s planning to create any new work for the 

MoMA retrospective. His last show there, in 1993, included 

another citrus-based intervention he improvised at the 

last minute, sending the museum’s normally meticulous 

curatorial staff into a tizzy. The piece, which involved placing 

oranges in the windows of neighboring apartment buildings, 

was called Home Run—and despite its apparent simplicity, it 

was one. With the opening still a few months away, Orozco 

has been visiting the new space, waiting for inspiration to 

strike. Whatever he comes up with, he promises, it will surely 

disappoint us. Guaranteed. “Don’t worry about that,” he says 

with a laugh. “It’s going to happen.” 

Hemispheres editor in chief AARON GELL has a sudden, 

unexplained appetite for yogurt.

88 

DECEMBER 2009 | UNITED.COM

Three Perfect Days 

RIVIERA 

MAYA 

Once the land of the ancient Maya, the Yucatán Peninsula is home to pristine beaches, 

rugged ruins and very few tourists // BY MIKE GUY // PHOTOGRAPHS BY EHREN JOSEPH 

90 DAY ONE 

Strolling in Playa 

del Carmen 

95 DAY TWO 

Swimming in 

Akumal’s Half 

Moon Bay 

96 DAY THREE 

Diving in the 

Dos Ojos Cenote 

STONE, IMMACULATE The ruins in Tulum

90 


BLUE LAGOONS Clockwise, from 

above right, on the beach at 

Akumal; mirrored suites at 

the Banyan Tree Mayakoba; 

the bar, a beachfront villa and 

poolside at the Rosewood 

Mayakoba 

LIKE ITS DIAMOND-STUDDED FRENCH NAMESAKE ALONG THE MEDITERRANEAN, the Riviera 

Maya—a stretch of coastline on the Yucatán Peninsula that reaches from just south of Cancún 

to the peaceful village of Tulum—is a shimmering white-sand playland of the well-to-do. But it 

can be experienced much more aff ordably than Monaco, Cap d’Antibes or even Venice. On this 

riviera, the main attractions aren’t Bianca Jagger in a tiara or even Matthew Perry carousing in 

St. Tropez, but instead mysterious, vast underwater sinkholes called cenotes, peaceful beachside 

palapas, a preponderance of yoga mats, and the granite tops of millennium-old Mayan ruins 

emerging from thick jungle canopies. 

The region rode a rising tide of tourism for a decade, with visitors attracted by the Caribbean 

Coast’s quiet beauty and an abundance of calming retreats among the ruins of Tulum. But what 

with the recent economic situation, there are now spectacular deals to be had in luxury lodging, 

and the sites are relaxingly free of crowds. Serenity now. 

DAY ONE Wake up to the perfect stillness of the mangrove lagoon, and peer through the 

1 

sheer voile drapes out onto the Caribbean Sea, grateful you didn’t stop in Cancún. Though 

it’s a great party town, Cancún fulfi lls a very specifi c need (i.e., to party). You’re more interested 

in taking in the area’s natural beauty, indulging in a bit of luxury and learning about the 

ancient Mayan culture. So you’ve opted to stay at the Rosewood Mayakoba (1), one of four 

completed resorts in a 240-acre development 

consortium, called Mayakoba, built with a reasonably 

light footprint behind the sandy dunes lining the placid 

sea. Though it’s just 40 minutes south of the rowdy 

clamor of Cancún’s zona hotelera, it might as well be 

another planet. 

You climb to your private villa’s rooftop salon— 

complete with an invigorating plunge pool—and take 

note of the Greg Norman–designed El Cameleon golf 

course. For a moment, you’re tempted to play a round. 

Instead, hop into the Ford Escape hybrid you picked 

up at the airport, and drive to Playa del Carmen, the 

bustling heart of the Riviera Maya. Once upon a time, 

Playa, as the locals call it, was a sleepy seaside pueblo of 

dirt lanes and huaracherias. Now, it’s wide awake. The 

crowded main thoroughfare, Avenida Quinta, gives off a 

highly cosmopolitan vibe. If you pass the Starbucks and 

Häagen-Dazs stores and the majority of the Mexican

92 

ARMANDO CHABLE, 24, 

LIFEGUARD // “Right off 

Mayakoba there is a reef 

that has some of the best 

fi shing in this region. It’s 

just beyond the north of 

Mayakoba. You can even fi sh 

from land if you have a big 

enough fi shing pole.” 

tchotchke shops, you can fi nd plenty of interest 

along the way. There are chaya juice stands, 

taquerias and the Kumkum & Mezcal Room (2), 

where you can sample one of 150 of the best 

brands of fi rewater in the world. 

Sampling is all you’ll be doing at this hour, of 

course, but grab a bottle of Arellana to go. 

Strolling farther, you come to 100% Natural (3), a 

healthy, happy and shady grotto set well back from 

the crowds on La Quinta. Take a seat among surfers and hippies, and order a salad of 

fresh camarones and piña and a couple of chicken tacos. Then while away the afternoon at 

the beach at the end of 12th Street, soaking in the vitamin D and surf scene before dinner. 

Ever wonder what the ancient Mayans used to eat? Of course you have. It’s time to 

fi nd out at Yaxche (4), where you sit before the bewitching altar of an ancient Mayan 

divinity and order a heaping portion of tikin xic, a fl aky fi llet of locally snagged grouper 

marinated in achiote paste and served on banana leaves. 

Now it’s time to saunter along Playa’s storied playa. You weave among the lovers 

and the late-night swimmers until you hit the Zenzi Beach Bar (5), a local favorite that 

hosts movies in the sand on a wide-screen TV every Monday at 8 p.m. You grab a 

reclining seat and take in a few minutes of The Shining as the moon shines above the sea. 

“Aqui estaaaa Juanito!” 

Getting up to order a drink, you confi de in the bartender that as much as you love 

Kubrick, you’d prefer to dance a little salsa. She recommends Coco Bongo (6), a popular 

night club on 10th Avenue and 12th Street. Cross La Quinta, which is now a tangle of 

well-lubricated tourists and roving mariachi trios, and soon fi nd yourself sweating 

under the disco ball. On the way back to the hotel, you stop at the local favorite, HC de 

Monterrey (7), for some steak tacos smothered in black chile sauce so fi ery your mouth 

will still be tingling as your head hits the pillow. 

BASKET CASE Clockwise, from top, the Kumkum & Mezcal Room in Playa del Carmen; the 

cabaña deck at Azulik; Playa’s Zenzi Beach Bar; and a taco from HC de Monterrey 

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ESRA CAROLINE RØISE 

3PD RIVIERA MAYA

DOWN MEXICO WAY 

Local residents 

in the Yucatán

PHOTOGRAPH OF CHILIS BY SHUTTERSTOCK 

3PD RIVIERA MAYA 

SADDLE UP! Patrolling the beach at Punto Venado 

DAY TWO The arpeggios from Coco Bongo still ring in your ears this morning 

2 as you smear on some SPF 50, hop in your car and drive 10 miles south. You’re 

going to see a man about a horse at Punto Venado (1). Here, you help your guide, 

Tomás, saddle up a handsome bay, and you take off for a jaunt into the jungle. This 

area of the Riviera Maya is untouched by developers, and the low-canopy growth is 

pristine. As you clop-clop along the trail, spider monkeys follow, swinging along the 

mangrove branches and screeching critically at your poor riding posture. As you 

fi nish the trek on the beach, you realize you haven’t seen another tourist all day. 

Take a quick refresher in the Rosewood’s rooftop plunge pool, check out and head 

to the Banyan Tree Mayakoba to sample the magical world of Saffron (2), the 

signature restaurant at this brand new, Asian-themed resort. Accented with 

curving, wood-planked roofs that arc above the jungle canopy like wings, Banyan 

Tree has a zenlike hush. At Saff ron, you take a table at the end of a narrow wooden 

pier, and watch the alligators patrol the still 

water of the lagoon below. Servers deliver 

Thai dishes cooked with local fl air— 

delicate squid rubbed with black habanero 

peppers and grouper grilled with pineapple 

and green curry. 

Time for a dive. You pull off Highway 307 

at the sleepy town of Akumal and bounce 

along the rutted road that curves the length 

of Half Moon Bay until you arrive at the 

extra-friendly Akumal Dive Shop (3). Strap 

on a scuba tank—or snorkel—and follow 

your guide out to the nearby coral recifes, 

where you fi nd a wallowing procession of 

tortugas, large, highly charismatic sea turtles 

that call Half Moon Bay home. You rub one’s 

SYLVIA ARANDA, 19, 

SHOPKEEPER // “Tulum has 

a lot of really nice places 

to walk in the jungle and 

see nature. Go south on the 

beach road to the Sian Ka’an 

Biosphere. There’s a trail that 

starts in the Maya Tulum 

parking lot.” 

shell, to the dive master’s consternation. 

On your way out of town, stop at Turtle 

Bay Bakery & Café (4), a cheerful watering 

hole where you replenish your fl uids with a 

pitcher of sweetened chaya iced tea. Order a 

crisp and citrusy ceviche with prawns, 

calamari and fi sh caught in the bay to go 

along with it. As you cool off , you spot a 


FOOD OF THE GODS // 

How to eat like a Mayan 

// Ancient Mayan cuisine was 

based on the “three sisters,” 

the staples of all North 

American food: maize, squash 

and beans, together with tapir, 

peccaries and various other 

animals you’ve never heard 

of. Experts say the Mayans 

also dosed every dish heavily 

with fi ery chili peppers, which 

grew like weeds in the Yucatán 

3,000 years ago. Today, the 

basic ingredients are the 

same with some extras. Chaya 

is a delicious leafy relative 

of spinach and is found 

throughout the Riviera Maya in 

everything from veggie juices 

to omelets. Signifi cantly, the 

Mayans are believed to have 

been the fi rst people to use the 

cacao (a.k.a. chocolate) bean, 

in a dish called xocolatl, which 

was a fi ery mocktail meant to 

please the gods. Made of corn 

meal, honey, cacao and chili 

peppers all ground together, 

this bitter and incendiary 

concoction is more diffi cult 

to fi nd today, but it’s worth 

the effort. 

95

96 


THE ROAD TO RUIN A spooky detail from 

the ancient Mayan city of Coba, above; 

a happier present-day villager; and a 

towering pyramid 

sign mock-threatening that “All unattended children will be given a free kitten.” 

Hit the road for Tulum, just 10 miles south. In the past few years, this tiny coastal 

town has grown into a destination for beach lovers, health nuts and yoga fanatics. Like 

Playa del Carmen, it has undergone a transformation since the beginning of the 

decade. Yoga resorts, spas and so-called “eco chic” lodges line the now-paved beach road. 

Among the best is Azulik (5), a resort consisting of 15 postcard-perfect palapas 

perched on stilts. In keeping with the eco theme, there is no electricity here, and 

running water is limited to the toilets in each of the airy, screened-in huts. Mosquito 

nets adorn the beds, and there’s a large shaded porch with a plunge pool carved 

from a tree stump. It is romantic and rustic—so much so that after walking down the 

road to tony Maya Tulum (6) for an invigorating session of Iyengar yoga, you decide 

to order in fresh grilled camarones and spicy steamed vegetables, which you fi nish by 

candlelight before calling it a night. Namaste. 

DAY THREE At daybreak, you arise to the sound of surf roaring beyond your 

3 

porch. A light breeze buff ets the mosquito net. You practice a couple of sun 

salutations and then hop in the car and drive to the inland pueblo of Tulum, to Don 

Cafeto (1), a locally favored breakfast joint. Opt for the Mayan breakfast, a hearty 

(though not so heart-healthy) portion of fried eggs and tomatoes, chaya, and bacon. 

Happily stuff ed with this “ancient” recipe, you drive the 30 miles inland to Coba (2). 

At the high point of Mayan civilization, 

about 1,500 years ago, there were 50,000 

inhabitants living around Coba’s two 

lakes. Today, the actual village is a dusty 

handful of shops. 

Tourists amble through the heat down 

a milelong path to see Nohoch Mul (3), 

which, at 140 feet, is the tallest pyramid 

on the Yucatán. For better or worse, it’s 

the only one left in Mexico that you can 

still climb. So, despite the heat and the 

vertiginous incline, that’s exactly what 

you do. At the top, you rest and inspect 

the altar—likely the site of human 

sacrifi ce—and the ancient image of the 

Descending God carved above it. The 

view from Nohoch Mul is well worth the 

eff ort: verdant jungle as far as the eye 

can see, patrolled from above by 

swooping hawks and quetzals. 

Hire one of the pedicabs to deliver you 

back to the parking lot, and stop in the 

village at Nicte Ha (4), a clean and 

friendly café that serves piping hot 

CHRISTIAN VARGAS, 32, STREET 

VIOLINIST // “There is no better 

place in Playa del Carmen than 

La Quinta at night, but I also like 

dancing at Coco Bongo, and very 

late at night there is a great 

party on the beach at the end of 

Twelfth Street.”

MAP ILLUTRATIONS BY STEVE STANKIEWICZ 

7 

Constituyentes 

20 Av. NTE 

6 

3 

4 

5 

3PD RIVIERA MAYA 

34 NTE 

10 Av. NTE 

2 

5 Av. NTE 

2 

4 

3 

Tulum 

DAY ONE 

(1) Rosewood Mayakoba 

Carretera Cancun, Km 298; 

Tel: 52-984-875-8000 

(2) Kumkum & Mezcal Room 

Avenida 5 at Calle 28 

(3) 100% Natural Avenida 5 

near Calle 10; Tel: 52-984- 

873-2242 (4) Yaxche Calle 8 

between Avenidas 5 and 10; 

Tel: 52-984-873-2502 

(5) Zenzi Beach Bar Calle 10 

at the beach; Tel: 52-984- 

876-2191 (6) Coco Bongo 

Calle 12 at Avenida 10; Tel: 

52-984-803-3232 (7) HC de 

Monterrey Constituyentes 

between Avenue 30 and 25; 

Tel: 52-984-803-0488 

5 

Playa del Carmen 

3 

4 

1 

2 

1 

Cancún 

Cozumel Cozu Co Cozu Co C me mel me mel el 

0 20 Miles 

THOSE THREE PERFECT DAYS 

DAY TWO 

(1) Punto Venado Hwy 307, 

Km 287 (2) Saffron Hwy 307, 

Km 298; Tel: 866-241-6588 

(3) Akumal Dive Shop North 

Akumal Bay; Tel: 52-984-875- 

9032 (4) Turtle Bay Bakery 

& Café Plaza Ukana 1, Loc. 15, 

Akumal; Tel: 52-949-226-8082 

(5) Azulik Carretera Tulum 

Ruinas, Km 7; Tel: 888- 

898-9922 (6) Maya Tulum 

Carretera Tulum-Punta Allen, 

Km 7; Tel: 888-515-4580 


Caribbean Sea 

DAY THREE 

(1) Don Cafeto Av. Tulum No. 

64, Lote 12; Tel: 800-505- 

1713 (2) Coba 40 miles west 

of Tulum (3) Nohoch Mul Coba 

(4) Nicte Ha Coba (5) Dos Ojos 

Cenote 10 miles north of 

Tulum (6) Maya Spa Carretera 

Tulum Ruinas Km. 5; 

Tel: 888-898-9922 

(7) El Mariachi Avs. Tulum and 

Orion; Tel: 52-984-106-2032 

Tulum 

Hwy 307 

BOARDING PASS 

Crystal blue seas, beautiful beaches, the wonders of Tulum and Chichen-Itza—really, 

need we say more? When you fl y United to the Mayan Riviera, start and end your trip in 

comfort and convenience with a Premier Travel package. 

7 

1 

5 

6 

6 

97

PHOTOGRAPH OF YOGA BY SHUTTERSTOCK 

FREEDOM ROCK From left, exploring the Tulum ruins; seaside dream catcher; and Dos Ojos Cenote 

homemade chips with spicy salsa, chicken quesadillas and the local specialty (not for the tender 

of tummy): lizard soup. Fired with chopped chilies and bolstered by clumps of chaya, it tastes 

sort of like...chicken. 

There’s no better way to work off such a repast than a swim in bracingly refreshing water. 

The entire Yucatán is a honeycomb of underground rivers and caverns called cenotes. None is as 

profound as the legendary Dos Ojos Cenote (5). You hire one of the local Mayan guides, Miguel, 

who equips you with snorkel, mask and fl ippers, and leads you into the chilly, crystal-clear 

water. As the occasional diver passes below, you navigate the stalactites of the cavern ceiling. If 

not for Miguel’s expert guidance, you’d easily get lost in the miles of “halls.” For an hour, you’re 

on another planet. 

Back in Tulum, you walk from your palapa to the Maya Spa (6), where you partake in an 

ancient ablution known as a temazcal with a Mayan shaman named Rafael. He burns aromatic 

copal resin in a chalice, asks for the protection of the gods and then leads you into a darkened 

stone sauna, where you chant unintelligible Mayan phrases and swat yourself with bundles of 

herbs. Couldn’t hurt, right? 

For dinner, you opt for the open-air café El Mariachi (7) in the pueblo. Choose a table that 

allows you to watch the lively town stroll past. The local mutt, 

Juanito, will brush up against your leg, but the pile of grilled 

fresh surf and turf—shrimp, squid, locally raised beef and 

añejo-marinated pork—and the assortment of chili salsas are 

too good to off er a stray. As the server brings you the check for 

this princely meal (about $25), you secretly hope the crowds 

don’t come rushing back for a little while longer. Like the 

meal, it is almost too good to share. 

RAFAEL NOH EHOC, 19, 

PEDICABBIE // “After biking 

around these Coba ruins 

all day, I like to go into the 

village to a place called Ki’ Ja 

Nal and have cocinitas there, 

or whatever the kitchen 

is cooking. Every day the 

food is different, but the 

woman who owns it is a 

very good cook. I like the 

stewed chicken. It’s simple.” 

Hemispheres executive editor MIKE GUY continues to chant 

unintelligible Mayan phrases while sitting at his desk. 

FIND INNER PEACE // 

Tulum is crazy about 

yoga // The quick trip from 

Chicago or Washington, D.C. 

and the mystical vibe together 

draw yankee yogis to Tulum 

like bees to organic miel. Three 

top yoga resorts: 

Maya Tulum is one of the 

toniest, with exquisitely 

built thatched-roof cabañas 

and state-of-the-art studios 

and spa treatments. Meals 

are top-end vegetarian, and 

breathlessly praised Ashtanga 

classes have recently attracted 

guests such as Heather Graham 

and Anne Hathaway. 

Cabanas Copal Hotel is a 

much more “rustic” setting, 

with a bar and restaurant, 

homey staff and a spa. Enjoy 

all-day classes in the “jungle 

yoga palapa.” 

Amansala is a newly rehabbed 

and more fi tness-oriented 

resort, with strength classes 

and “Bikini Bootcamp” to go 

along with the yoga. 

99

TRAVEL GUIDE 

Harding Park 

Golf Course 

San Francisco’s Finest 

Tradition Continues 

 

 

 

 

Visit uncrowded, unspoiled 

Moloka‘i – we’re 

“Hawaiian by Nature.” 

From spectacular sea cliffs to three-mile 

beaches, to pristine rainforests and deep 

valleys, to wide-open spaces. 

Kayaking, mountain biking, 

deep-sea fishing, and 

snorkeling – the island 

never runs out of 

contrasts or 

surprises. 

If you are into 100% pure fun, 

no artificial kicks and all natural highs, 

come to Moloka‘i. 

1-800-800-6367 

www.molokai-hawaii.com 

Photo: John Evely 

Ski & Stay 

FREE 

in Canada’s 

Protected Playground TM . 

Call 1-866-371-6936 

or visit 

www.SkiBig3.com/united 

to book your ski vacation now!


PLAN AHEAD. 

SHIP INSTEAD! 

Sportube is the World’s 

# 1 ski & snowboard 

case. Whether you 

check it or ship it… 

Protect Your Gear! 

101 

The Luxury Liner Brings 

You To Luxury Brands 

Daily Service between NYC and Fabulous Shopping! 

Each Luxury Liner delivers more legroom, plush leather seating, free 

WIFI, galley with snacks and drinks, and personal power outlets. 

Find impressive savings during your 7 hour stay at 200 outlet stores 

such as Coach, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Lacoste, 

Neiman Marcus, Prada, Saks Fifth Avenue and more! 

Convenient pick-up stops along Lexington between 85th & 40th 

www.hamptonluxuryliner.com (631) 537-5800 

Tired of airline 

luggage fees? 

www.sportube.com 

800.423.4439 or email: info@sportube.com

Gift Guide 

A little something for everyone on your list. 

Don’t order that Snuggie just yet! 

If you haven’t finished your holiday 

shopping, no need to panic. You’re 

not alone. Fifty percent of us leave our 

holiday shopping until the last minute. 

We’re here to help quell your shopping 

anxiety. That’s why we compiled a Gift 

Guide that shows you the best of what’s 

out there. No matter which holiday you 

celebrate, be it Christmas, Hanukkah 

or Kwanzaa and whether you live in 

California, Casablanca or Cannes, one 

thing that unites everyone is that we 

will spend money on gifts this holiday 

season. For 2009, the National Retail 

Federation estimates that the U.S. 

will see $437 billion spent on holiday 

purchases during November and 

December. Americans on average plan to 

spend nearly $682 on gifts this 

holiday season. 

In our guide, we spotlight some 

different gifts that are vying for your 

dollar this season. From great stocking 

stuffers such as iPod accessories, to 

electronic items including e-readers and 

headphones, to higher-end items such as 

jewelry and furs, we’ll show you all the 

ways it’s better to give than to receive. 

Although we encourage you to 

consider the items we’ve selected when 

you’re shopping for your loved ones this 

year, it’s also important to remember 

the spirit of the season. It’s a time to be 

HEMISPHERES PROMOTION 

with your family, to start new traditions 

for the children in your life, as well as to 

teach them old ones. It’s a time for giving 

and forgiving, for laughter and memory- 

For 2009, the National Retail Federation 

estimates that the U.S. will see $437 billion 

spent on holiday purchases during 

November and December. 

making. And the gifts you give—whether 

they’re homemade cookies baked from a 

family recipe, or the hottest new gadget 

on the market this year—are just another 

way to tell your friends and family you 

love them. 

We hope you enjoy your seasonal 

travels, and that this guide takes a little 

bit of stress out of your holidays.

GIFT 

GUIDE 

Featuring One-Touch picture loading and 

home décor styling, Digital Photo Frames 

from Pandigital make it easier than ever 

to enjoy all your pictures. 

pandigital.net 

Take your favorite books with you on 

your next flight with Foxit’s eSlick. 

eSlick’s sharp image resolution makes 

it perfect for reading anywhere. 

foxitsoftware.com 

THE BIG PICTURE 

BY THE BOOK 

VOICE CONTROL 

CHARGE ME UP 

The BlueAnt Q1 uses advanced voice 

recognition software to control the 

headset and phone functions just by using 

your voice. Great sound, comfort, style. 

blueantwireless.com 

Give your iPhone/iPod more than double the 

power, with the rechargeable RichardSolo 1800. 

Instantly provides charge, and includes built-in 

flashlight and laser. 

richardsolo.com

Lingo talking language translator instantly speaks 

400,000 words, 46,000 phrases in 20 languages. 

User-friendly travel companion includes 

metric/currency converter and travel games. 

richardsolo.com 

Listen to your music on this amazing wireless 

speaker system through the iPod/iPhone 

dock or streaming via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth device. 

hideflifestyle.com 

SMART MOUTH 

SOUND OFF 

SITTING DOCK 

LISTEN TO REASON 

GIFT 

GUIDE 

idox TM Traveler fold up case for 

iPhone 3G flips open to a perfect angle 

to view movies. Available in Black, 

Platinum, Pink. Made in America. 

idox360.com 

Enjoy in-flight movies/music or block-out 

background noise with Audio-Technica’s 

ATH-ANC7b QuietPoint® active noise-cancelling 

headphones. Up to 85% noise-cancellation, 

superior audio quality, and lightweight comfort. 

audio-technica.com

GIFT 

GUIDE 

These spectacular Art Deco-style diamond 

drop earrings feature two cushion-cut 

diamonds weighing 2.35 carats joined by 

.89 carats of diamonds and square-cut 

sapphires. Set in platinum. 

Elan Furs is a family owned business with three locations in Indianapolis, 

Michigan Avenue in Chicago and Barth Wind Elan in Morton Grove, Illinois. 

We have many top American and European Designers along with Elan’s own 

designs. We also provide storage, cleaning, repair, remodeling and appraisals. 

rauantiques.com 

RARE BRILLIANCE 

IN THE BAG 

elanfur.com 

The Nicole Hobo, made with Ellington’s 

luxuriously soft, full-grain Italian leather, 

is the perfect gift for a modern woman 

with casual-chic style. 

ellingtonhandbags.com 

IN STYLE

iFresh rechargeable battery powers your 

Blackberry, iPhone, iPod and almost every 

other PDA up to 3 full charges. Includes 

adapters & cable. Orders: 800-336-1968 

shopwithease.com/ifresh_united 

Napoleon’s P450 is proudly built in North 

America and features Napoleon’s patented 

stainless steel cooking system and is 

backed by a Limited Lifetime Warranty. 

napoleongrills.com 

POWER TRIP 

WELL DONE 

THE WRITE STYLE 

A MODERN CLASSIC 

GIFT 

GUIDE 

Professional style doesn’t end with the perfect 

suit. Carry this smart Parker® Premier Deluxe ST 

ballpoint pen that impresses while it performs. 

Visit the website to see the entire line. 

parkerpen.com 

Press down, lift & serve. Made of 

high-quality mirrored stainless steel, the 

Magisso Cake Server embodies Scandinavian 

style and function. A perfect gift. 

urban-butik.com

GIFT 

GUIDE 

MTM, the leading manufacturer of 

rugged tactical timepieces, introduces 

the Patriot Chronograph. Worn proudly 

by members of Special Forces. Available 

exclusively through MTM online. 

specialopswatch.com 

The Grip-iT portable vent mount is 

designed to hold most portable electronic 

devices including iPhone, Cell Phone, GPS and 

BlackBerry for convenient, hands-free driving. 

bracketron.com/united 

RIGHT ON TIME 

GET A GRIP 

DIGITAL AGE 

COVER TO COVER 

Introducing the “Libre” eBook Reader Pro 

from Aluratek. Includes a 2GB SD card 

preloaded with 100 of the most popular 

books of all time. 

aluratek.com 

Ayn Rand / Atlas Shrugged 1957 

First edition of one of the most popular 

and influential novels of the last 50 years. 

baumanrarebooks.com

HOLE IN ONE 

Give the gift of better golf! 

Not only is The Putting Game 

from NE1 Golf Products Inc. an 

extremely powerful training aid 

used by PGA touring pros, it’s a 

fun and exciting putting game 

that the whole family will enjoy 

using for years to come. It’s a 

new philosophy in training 

where all training modes are 

games that improve putting 

accuracy and distance control. 

Operates on 2 C batteries for 

use anywhere. Putter and 

putting mat sold separately. 

Learn more and order online. 

theputtinggame.com 

GIFT 

GUIDE

GIFT 

GUIDE 

Water-resistant to 1000m, the EINTAUSEND is a beautifully crafted German 

dive watch. With ultra-modern looks, its look and feel is on par with watches 

five times its price. Suitable as a dive watch, but also a very comfortable 

good-looking wristwatch. 

kazimon.com 

The Marie Lifestyle Collection is now in stores! These fabric bags and 

accessories are crafted with the perfect formula; design, function and 

quality! They are available in 7 different patterns, in an array of styles… 

one to suit every trend setter on your Christmas list! 

mariecollection.com 

TIME OUT 

IN STYLE

over 11,000 designer brand name fragrances, skincare, 

makeup, haircare & more… 

100% genuine brands • safe & trusted since 1997 

free 

shipping 

OVER 11,000 ITEMS ON SALE THIS WEEK 

15% OFF 

enter coupon code: UNITED9 

at www.FragranceNet.com 

redeem coupon at: www.FragranceNet.com 

or call us at: 1-800-PARFUMS 

Demos, reviews + more at Chillpillaudio.com 

DISCOUNTS 

UP TO 

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OFF 

GIFT GUIDE MARKETPLACE

Wine Country 

By David Bernad // Founder and President of the Miami International Wine Fair and Vinamericas 

America’s fascination with wine has turned a 

former beer-and-bourbon audience into 

the largest wine market in the world. 

With more than 300 million cases 

sold in 2008, the potential for growth 

remains expansive. Very few markets 

offer the unbelievable selection one finds 

in nearly every major metropolitan area 

in the United States. In a country that 

has always been eager to try new things 

—new varietals, new styles—importers 

and distributors take the risk of seeking 

out boutique wineries abroad, or of 

representing wines from regions 

largely unknown. 

This drive toward innovation and 

discovery pushes winemakers to consider 

developing their business in America. 

According to the Wine Institute, the U.S. 

consumed one percent more wine in 

2009 than in previous years, though 

there is a clear variation in purchasing 

patterns. In this economy, home dining 

and entertaining are on the rise and what 

better way to welcome family and friends 

than with a bottle of wine? Gone 

however, are the days of spending 

exorbitant sums on bottles, as with 

increased consumption, statistics also 

show that enthusiasts are buying at lower 

price points. The industry has answered 

this trend accordingly and has allowed 

“mom and pop” labels and smaller 

winemakers to shine in the advent of 

quality for value. 

In the midst of wine’s outstanding 

performance in the luxury consumer 

sector, Spain continues to lead the pack 

in terms of growth in exports from 

Europe, while Argentina is exploding 

in popularity thanks to America’s love 

affair with Malbec. Consumption of 

HEMISPHERES PROMOTION 

California wines has also increased 

with respect to imports due to the Euro’s 

strength, which has made European 

imports more expensive. 

When it comes to specific grape 

varietals, Chardonnay is the premier 

choice, but crisper, greener wines such as 

Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Albarino 

and Gruner Veltliner are slowly 

emerging. Cabernet and Merlot are still 

the top reds; however, the aforementioned 

Malbec as well as Pinot Grigio are 

growing at unprecedented rates. 

As with any other industry, trends 

come and go in the wine sector. What’s 

in today may be out tomorrow 

Nevertheless, America has proven that its 

passion for wine is here to stay, 

embracing the fine vineyards that its 

country has to offer, as well as the many 

varieties available worldwide.

WINE SEASON 

 

 

 

becker 

Farms 

 

 

 

 

 

716-772-2211 

Looking for the 

perfect gift for 

someone who’s 

been very nice? 

We have beautiful wooden gift boxes 

fi lled with delectable Oregon treats like 

Smoked Salmon, Pinot Noir fi lled Bon 

Bons, Tillamook Cheese, and of course, 

Henry Estate’s award winning wines. 

There’s still time! 

Visit our website or call today! 

Henry Estate Winery 

1-800-782-2686 

www.henryestate.com 

Ask about Corporate Discounts! 

HUDSON VALLEY 

WINE COUNTRY.ORG 

 

HUDSON VALLEY 

WINE COUNTRY 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

www.hudsonvalleywinecountry.org

The ravi instant wine refresher 

ravisolution.com 

The smallest and 

fastest wine chiller 

on the market today! 

The Ravi will chill 

your white, rosé or 

red wines, as well 

as other liquors in 

seconds! 

New 

modular 

decanter 

Easy to seperate, easy to clean! 

Ravi Solution, makers of high quality wine accessories 


115


RED CARPET CLUB 

ECONOMY PLUS 

CHOOSE THE CARD 

THAT’S RIGHT FOR YOU: 

MILEAGE PLUS® CLUB VISA® 

Red Carpet Club® annual membership 

30,000 bonus miles 

Up to 10,000 EQM* per year 

Double miles on United® purchases 

MILEAGE PLUS ACCESS VISA 

Economy Plus® annual seating 


Up to 10,000 EQM* per year 

One mile per dollar spent 

$100 United discount travel certificate 

MILEAGE PLUS SELECT VISA 


Triple miles on United purchases 

Double miles on everyday purchases 


MILEAGE PLUS VISA SIGNATURE 


One mile per dollar spent 


*Elite Qualifying Miles 

mileage plus 

New cards offer travelers greater 

choice and exclusive benefits. 

SAVVY TRAVELERS KNOW that frequent flyer programs offer the best return on your 

mileage. If you desire added comfort when you travel or easy ways to take your miles 

further faster, the new Mileage Plus Visa family of credit cards has unique features 

and benefits for every traveler. 

Today more than ever, customers expect greater value for their loyalty. Mileage Plus 

Visa cards offer more flexibility, true choice and exclusive benefits to fit your needs. 

Choose from valuable card benefits such as: 

Red Carpet Club membership – escape the airport crowds and enjoy 

complimentary Wi-Fi, snacks, beverages and personal travel assistance. 

Economy Plus seating – stretch out and relax or work in comfort with up to 

five extra inches of legroom near the front of the economy cabin. 

Double or triple miles – earned on every dollar spent on every qualifying purchase. 

Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM) – ascend the elite ranks sooner by earning 

EQM with every qualifying purchase. 

Exclusive Visa Signature benefits – travel like a V.I.P. with access to 

personal travel agents, concierge services and more. 

You can purchase with confidence, knowing your card is backed by the financial 

security of Chase and the dedication to customer loyalty of Mileage Plus. 

For more information and to take advantage of a special introductory bonus mile offer, 

visit united.com/cardfamily. 

Accounts subject to credit approval. Restrictions and limitations apply. Annual credit card fee applies. United® Mileage Plus® 

Visa® credit cards are issued by Chase Bank USA, N.A. See united.com/cardfamily for pricing and rewards details. 

Miles accrued, awards issued and bonus offers are subject to the rules of the United Mileage Plus program. United, its 

subsidiaries, affiliates and agents are not responsible for any products and services of other participating companies 

and partners. Please allow six to eight weeks after completed qualifying activity for bonus miles to be posted to your 

Mileage Plus account. The Mileage Plus program, including accruals, awards and bonus mile offers, is subject to change 

without notice. Taxes and fees related to award travel are the responsibility of the passenger. United and Mileage Plus are 

registered service marks. For complete details about the Mileage Plus program, visit united.com.


PLAY 

ENTERTAINMENT INFORMATION 

118 Films & Television 128 United Destinations 

125 Audio Programming 132 Terminal Diagrams 

140 Crossword 137 Alliances & Partnerships 

142 Sudoku & Quiz 138 Customs & Immigration 

147 Beverages & Food 

Four Christmases is one of 

many holiday fi lms that 

show why perfect is no fun.

NORTH 

AMERICA 

HAWAII 

FILM 

& TELEVISION 

FILMS ARE SHOWN ONLY on fl ights of three hours or longer. Movies available on most 747, 757, 767, 777, A319 and A320 aircraft fl ights. 

Schedules and selections are subject to change. International Language Tracks / (S) Películas están disponsibles en Español en todas las rutas 

domesticas en el canal 10. 

MEXICO 

& CARIBBEAN 

FILM TELEVISION FILM TELEVISION 

DECEMBER 1-15 

Four Christmases 

DECEMBER 16-31 

500 Days of Summer 


DECEMBER 1-15 




Both films available on flights 

between Denver/Chicago and Hawaii 

DECEMBER 1-15 

It Might Get Loud 


Elf 

EASTBOUND 

DECEMBER 1-15 

The Big Bang Theory [T] 

Shaq Vs. 

Time Warp 


30 Rock [T] 

South Pacifi c 

Samantha Brown’s Great Weekends 

DECEMBER 1-15 


Shaq Vs. 

Time Warp 


30 Rock [T] 

South Pacifi c 


DECEMBER 1-15 


Chuck [T] 

Time Warp 

The TELEVISION 

Offi ce [T] 


Flight of the Conchords [T] 

Grey’s Anatomy [T] 

Frasier [T] 

Jockeys [T] 

DECEMBER 1-15 



Elf 

DECEMBER 1-15 

Elf 



Both films available on flights 

between Denver/Chicago and Hawaii 

DECEMBER 1-15 




WESTBOUND 

DECEMBER 1-15 

The Offi ce [T] 

Alter Eco 



Man V. Food 

Nature’s Great Events 

The Simpsons [T] 

DECEMBER 1-15 

The Offi ce [T] 

Alter Eco 



Man V. Food 

Nature’s Great Events 

The Simpsons [T] 

FILM SOUTHBOUND TELEVISION FILM NORTHBOUND TELEVISION 

DECEMBER 1-15 

Two and a Half Men [T] 

House [T] 

Real Estate Pros 

30 Rock [T] 



Ugly Betty [T] 

Man V. Food 

Arrested Development [T] 

THE "FUN" IN DYSFUNCTIONAL 

RECENT HOLIDAY MOVIES have taught viewers that less-than-perfect families 

are ideal fodder for making us laugh and easing our own seasonal anxieties. 

Going home for the holidays evokes warm feelings of joyous reunion, family 

harmony, piles of gifts stacked under a perfectly groomed tree, carolers at the 

door and tables heaped high with comfort food. In real life, only the food is 

guaranteed. As Hollywood would have it, nightmare in-laws, sparring matches, 

bizarre relatives and leftover childhood trauma are also on the menu. 

It turns out that’s how we like it. We enjoy seeing precious holiday traditions 

dissolve into pandemonium onscreen; it validates our holiday nightmares and 

offers hope that maybe, just maybe, our own holiday homecomings won’t be 

quite so stressful. At the very least, it casts our own families in a slightly more 

normal, mundane light. 

Have fun this month, and enjoy the catharsis that comes from watching Elf 

and Four Christmases!

MOST FILMS HAVE BEEN EDITED FOR AIRLINE USE. 

However, customer discretion is still advised. 

Content guidelines are provided as a courtesy to our 

customers in choosing whether to view a fi lm. 

FOUR CHRISTMASES 

1 hr. 

26 min. 

When Kate and Brad fi nd themselves grounded by fog on Christmas morning, 

their exotic vacation plans morph into the family-centric holiday they had, until 

now, gleefully avoided. Out of obligation—and unable to escape—they trudge to 

four relative-choked festivities, increasingly mortifi ed to fi nd childhood fears 

raised, adolescent wounds reopened…and their very future together uncertain. 

FEATURING Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Jon Favreau 

DIRECTED BY Seth Gordon 

500 DAYS OF SUMMER 

“This is a story of boy meets girl,” begins the wry, probing narrator of 500 Days 

of Summer. The boy, Tom believes in the notion of a transforming, cosmically 

destined kind of love. The girl, Summer, doesn’t. But that doesn’t stop Tom from 

going after her. Suddenly, he is not just in love with her but with the very idea of 

a love that has the power to shock the heart and stop the world. 

FEATURING Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Geoffrey Arend 

DIRECTED BY Marc Webb 

CUSTOMERS ARE WELCOME TO VIEW their own 

video entertainment aboard a United aircraft as long 

as they are able to show the programming has an 

MPAA rating of “R” or less. 

1 hr. 

33 min. 

IT MIGHT GET LOUD 

(S) Spanish 

(G) German 

(C) Chinese 

(J) Japanese 

[V] Violence 

[S] Sexual Situations 

[T] Adult Themes 

1 hr. 

38 min. 

It Might Get Loud tells the personal stories of three generations of electric guitar 

virtuosos—The Edge (U2), Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) and Jack White (The White 

Stripes). Concentrating on each artist’s musical rebellion, and traveling with him 

to infl uential locations, this fi lm lets you witness intimate moments and hear new 

music. The movie revolves around a day when Jimmy Page, Jack White and The 

Edge fi rst sat down together. 

FEATURING The Edge, Jimmy Page, Jack White 

DIRECTED BY Davis Guggenheim 

ELF 


119 

1 hr. 

37 min. 

After accidentally falling into Santa Claus’ gift sack, a human baby is raised at 

the North Pole, growing up to believe he is an elf. Due to his large size, the “elf” 

causes chaos in Santa’s workshop, forcing Kris Kringle to send him on a mission to 

fi nd his human roots. When he lands in a New York City department store, chaos 

ensues, but holiday cheer prevails. 

FEATURING Will Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart 

DIRECTED BY Jon Favreau

FILM 

& TELEVISION 

TELEVISION DESCRIPTIONS 

The views contained in the video content are not necessarily those of United. 

ALTER ECO 

“School House Rock ’N Review” 

Entourage star Adrian Grenier, shows his greener side: He and three buddies 

help those who want to lead sustainable lifestyles do so with style. Wait until 

you see what he and Jonny Dubowsky of Rock ’N Renew do with the rain 

garden at Crossroads Middle School 

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS 

“Love Is a Weapon of Choice” 

New Zealanders Jemaine Clement and Brett McKenzie spoof themselves, 

sharing the tale of a two-man band trying to make it in the Big Apple. When 

the pair both fall for a woman whose missing dog has epilepsy, it leads to a 

duel, a canine benefi t and a couple of new tunes. 

GET IN TOUCH 

Like to plan ahead and know what’s playing before your 

flight? Text “MOVIE” to 75309 and you’ll get a reply with 

the current movies that are playing. If you really like to 

plan ahead, text “NEXT MOVIE” for next month’s movies. 

What do you think of our programming? We’re open to 

suggestions. Please send to play@united.com. 

NATURE’S GREAT EVENTS 

“The Great Melt” 

The BBC is at it again, showing viewers how the world works in the wild. As 

winter passes in the Arctic, the four million square miles of ice that cover it 

start to melt. While the polar bears are sad to see the icy terrain disappear, a 

new abundance of birds and small critters equals jackpot for the arctic fox. 

SOUTH PACIFIC 

“Castaways” 

Digital media loading occurs between the 25th and 5th 

of each month. As a result, please understand if your 

fl ight features a different line up before and after the 

start of each month. 

Isolated in the world’s largest ocean, the cultures, fl ora and fauna of remote 

Pacifi c islands are unlike anything you’ve seen. Get an exclusive look at the 

Goldie bird of paradise. Also pretty cool? Members of the Sepik river tribe hold an 

initiation cermony in which they make themselves look like saltwater crocodiles. 

YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO MOVIES, TV SHOWS, MUSIC AND PREMIUM SEAT COMFORT ABOARD UNITED 

Four Christmases is one of 

many holiday fi lms that 

show why perfect is no fun. 


PLAY 

Play_1209_p01_Coverv2 2.indd 1 03/11/2009 16:23 

IF YOUR AIRCRAFT 

IS EQUIPPED 

with in-seat video, 

refer to the separate 

Play guide located in 

your seat pocket.

Inspired by the art of Picasso, 

Mother-of-Pearl with Spiny 

Oyster Inlay Pendant in 

Sterling Silver and 18K Gold 

$259 

Matching Earrings available 

$359 

Sterling Silver Chain 

included 

OAHU: Ala Moana Center Waikiki BeachwalkHilton Hawaiian Village 

MAUI: Queen Ka‘ahumanu CenterLahaina CanneryThe Shops at WaileaWhalers Village 

Front Street (2 locations)Hyatt Regency MauiGrand Wailea Resort 

KAUAI: Poipu Shopping VillageGrand Hyatt Kauai 

BIG ISLAND OF HAWAII: Kona MarketplaceKings’ ShopsHilton Waikoloa Village 

NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINES: Pride of America 

BOSTON: Natick CollectionNorthshore Mall CHICAGO: Oakbrook CenterWoodfield Mall DALLAS: NorthPark Center 

DENVER: Cherry Creek Shopping Center LOS ANGELES: Glendale GalleriaNorthridge Fashion Center 

NEW YORK: Roosevelt Field ORLANDO: The Mall at Millenia PHILADELPHIA: The Plaza at King of Prussia 

PLEASANTON: Stoneridge Mall PORTLAND: Washington Square SAN DIEGO: Fashion ValleyHorton Plaza 

SAN FRANCISCO: Pier 39 SAN JOSE: Valley Fair SEATTLE: Bellevue Square WASHINGTON, D.C.: Tysons Corner Center

JAPAN 

FILM 

& TELEVISION 

B747 MAINSCREEN PROGRAMMING 

INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE TRACKS (G) Die Auffl istungder Sprachen für ausgewählte Spielfi lme fi nden Sie für die 747-400 Maschinen auf Kanal 2 

für alle weiteren Maschinen auf Kanal 10. (J) トラック言語本の長編映画をチャンネル2と747-400航空機上の他の飛行機内でのチャネル10で選択されています 

(C) 在747-400型飞机上这些故事片的音频位于第 10频道. 在其他型号的飞机上位于第2频道 

GERMANY 

AUSTRALIA 

CHINA & 

HONG KONG 

SINGAPORE– 

HONG KONG 

VIETNAM– 

HONG KONG 

JAPAN– 

THAILAND 

If your aircraft is equipped with in-seat video, refer to the separate Play guide located in your seat pocket. 

FILM TELEVISION 

It Might Get Loud (G) 

Elf (G) 

Julie & Julia [T] (G) 

*Harry Potter 

and the Half-Blood Prince [V] (G) 

*West Coast only 

FILM TELEVISION 



Elf (G) 

Julie & Julia [T] (G) 

Harry Potter 

and the Half-Blood Prince [V] (G) 


It Might Get Loud (J)(C) 

Elf (J)(C) 

Julie & Julia [T] (J)(C) 

*Harry Potter and the 

Half-Blood Prince [V] (J)(C) 

*East Coast/ORD only 


Frasier [T] (J) 

Royal Pains [T] 


It Might Get Loud (J)(C) 

Elf (J)(C) 

Julie & Julia [T] (J)(C) 

Harry Potter and the 


Monsters vs. Aliens (J)(C) 

Grey’s Anatomy [T] (C) 

Royal Pains [T} (C) / Frasier [T] (C) 


Royal Pains [T] (C) 

Frasier [T] (C) 



Frasier [T] (C) 

DISCOVERY 

Treasure Quest (C) 

Discovery Atlas (C) 

Time Warp (C) 

BBC WORLD 

HARDtalk (J) / Peschardt’s People (J) 

Click (J) / HARDtalk (J) 


Monsters vs. Aliens (J)(C) 

Harry Potter and the 


EASTBOUND WESTBOUND 

Ho Chi Minh City to Hong Kong 

NCIS [T][V] (G) 

House [T] (G) 


Eli Stone [T] 

My Music Brain 

The Office [T] 

BBC WORLD 

HARDtalk (J) 

Peschardt’s People (J) 

Click (J) 

HARDtalk (J) 

Four Christmases (G) 

500 Days of Summer (G) 

Up (G) 

*The Time Traveler’s Wife [T] (G) 

*West Coast only 

Four Christmases (G) 

500 Days of Summer (G) 

Up (G) 

The Time Traveler’s Wife [T] (G) 

Four Christmases (J)(C) 

500 Days of Summer (J)(C) 

Up (J)(C) 

*The Time Traveler’s Wife [T] (J)(C) 

*East Coast/ORD only 

Four Christmases (J)(C) 

500 Days of Summer (J)(C) 

Up (J)(C) 

The Time Traveler’s Wife [T] (J)(C) 

Wall-E (J)(C) 

Wall-E (J)(C) 

The Time Traveler’s Wife [T] (J)(C) 

Hong Kong to Ho Chi Minh City 

The Mentalist [T][V] (G) 


30 Rock [T] 

The Mentalist [T][V] 

Time Warp 


Click 

BBC WORLD 

HARDtalk (J) 

Click (J) 

Peschardt’s People (J) 

HARDtalk (J) 

BBC WORLD 

HARDtalk (J) / Peschardt’s People (J) / Click (J) / HARDtalk (J) 



Frasier [T] (C)

MONSTERS VS. ALIENS 

When Susan Murphy is clobbered by a meteor, she 

mysteriously grows to 49 feet, 11 inches tall and is 

labeled a “monster” named Ginormica. She is captured 

and held in a secret government compound with a 

motley crew of monsters. Their confi nement time is cut 

short, however, when an alien robot begins storming the 

country. The monsters must save the world. 

VOICES BY Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, 

Will Arnett 

DIRECTED BY Rob Letterman, Conrad Vernon 

JULIE & JULIA [T] 

1 hr. 

34 min. 

2 hr. 

This adaptation of two memoirs—Julie Powell’s Julie 

& Julia and My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex 

Prud’homme—intertwines the lives of two women at 

loose ends...until they discover that with passion, 

fearlessness and butter, anything is possible. 

FEATURING Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci 

DIRECTED BY Nora Ephron 

WALL-E 

1 hr. 

38 min. 

It’s the year 2700, and a trash-collecting robot, 

WALL•E, is one of earth’s few remaining inhabitants. 

When a rocket drops off a new robot, EVE, WALL•E 

is excited about having a friend. He shares his 

collection with her, and one of his discoveries 

prompts EVE to return to space with WALL•E in 

pursuit. The robots arrive at a massive spaceship 

and learn that WALL•E’s fi nd may hold the key to 

humankind’s future. 

VOICES BY Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight 

DIRECTED BY Andrew Stanton 

UP 

1 hr. 

36 min. 

In this charming animated Pixar adventure, 

78-year-old Carl Fredricksen ties thousands 

of balloons to his home and sets out to fulfi ll 

his lifelong dream of seeing the wilds of South 

America. Right after lifting off, however, he learns 

he isn`t alone on his journey: Russell, a young 

wilderness explorer 70 years his junior, has 

inadvertently become a stowaway on the trip. 

VOICES BY Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer 

DIRECTED BY Pete Docter, Bob Peterson 


(S) Spanish 

(G) German 

(C) Chinese 

(J) Japanese 

[V] Violence 

[S] Sexual Situations 

[T] Adult Themes 

HARRY POTTER AND THE 

HALF-BLOOD PRINCE [V] 

2 hr. 

21 min. 

As Harry Potter begins his sixth year at Hogwarts 

School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he discovers 

an old book marked mysteriously “This book is the 

property of the Half-Blood Prince” and begins to 

learn more about Lord Voldemort’s dark past. 

FEATURING Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, 

Emma Watson 

DIRECTED BY David Yates 

THE TIME 

TRAVELER’S WIFE [T] 

1 hr. 

41 min. 

Clare has been in love with Henry her entire life 

even though she never knows when they will be 

separated: Henry is a time traveler cursed with a 

genetic anomaly that causes him to live his life on 

a shifting timeline, skipping back and forth with no 

control. Despite the fact that Henry’s travels force 

them apart with no warning, Clare desperately tries 

to build a life with her one true love. 

FEATURING Rachel McAdams, Eric Bana, 

Arliss Howard 

DIRECTED BY Robert Schwentke 

ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT/PERSONAL DEVICES 

United Airlines strives to make its customer experience safe and comfortable and accordingly has issued the following in regard to the use of electronic equipment/personal devices onboard its 

aircraft. However, the following is not a contract and does not create any legal rights or obligations. Certain electronic devices may not be used on our planes for safety reasons. Such devices may cause 

electromagnetic interference with cockpit navigation or communications systems during ground operations and while the aircraft is fl ying below 10,000 feet. However, when an aircraft is traveling above 

10,000 feet (normally about 10 minutes after takeoff), passengers can use many of the devices listed. Hearing aids, heart pacemakers and watches are acceptable at all times. 

These electronic devices can be used in the cabin, but may not be used during takeoff and landing: Calculators; handheld computer games; shavers; portable CD and tape players; laptop computers/ 

accessory printers/tape drives; portable VCRs/video players 

These electronic devices cannot be used on the airplane at any time: Cellular phones (cellular phones maybe used on the plane at the gate before the aircraft door is closed or at captain’s discretion when 

the plane is away from the gate and on the ground); televisions; AM/FM transmitters-receivers; remote-controlled toys 

In addition, United Airlines has an onboard photography and video policy. Customers who bring personal audio and video equipment onboard may only use these items with headsets. Noise-canceling 

headsets may be activated. The use of still and video cameras, fi lm or digital, including any cellular or other devices that have this capability, is permitted only for recording of personal events. However, 

photography, audio or video recording of other customers without their express prior consent is strictly prohibited. Also, unauthorized photography, audio or video recording of airline personnel, aircraft 

equipmen, or procedures is always prohibited. Any voice, audio, video or other photography (motion or still), recording or transmission while on any United Airlines aircraft is strictly prohibited, except to 

the extent specifi cally permitted by United Airlines. UAL Corporation October, 2009 

123

AUDIO 

PROGRAMMING 

CH. 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

*Live communication between the fl ight deck and FAA 

air-traffi c control is offered. As you listen, your fl ight 

will be identifi ed by its fl ight number. This feature is 

unique to United and may not be available on all fl ights. 

Available at your captain’s discretion. 

HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM | NOVEMBER 2009 

XM RADIO AND UNITED offer a sampling of XM’s exclusive music 

channels for your infl ight enjoyment. Find your aircraft model on 

the grid below and review the selections on the channel listing. 

Everything worth listening to is now on XM. 

777 2-CABIN A319 & A320 SELECT A320 747 757 & 767 2-CABIN 737 

MOVIE 

English 

Top 20 Hits 

’70s Hits 

Adult Contemporary Hits 

Children’s Programming 

From the Flight Deck 

MOVIE 

Dubbed 

MOVIE 

Dubbed 

Classic Rock Adult Contemporary Hits 

Classic Rock 

MOVIE 

English 

MOVIE 

Dubbed 

MOVIE 

Dubbed 



New Age New Age 

New Alternative 

MOVIE 

English 

Top 20 Hits 

’70s Hits 

Adult Album Rock ’70s Hits 

Adult Album Rock 

’70s Hits 


MOVIE 

English 

Top 20 Hits 



From the 

Flight Deck Smooth Jazz 

125 

Unavailable 

Top 20 Hits 

Modern Adult Hits Modern Adult Hits Modern Adult Hits 

Modern Adult Hits Modern Adult Hits 

Classical Pops Classical Pops Classical Pops ’60s Hits 

Classical Pops Classical Pops 

’60s Hits ’60s Hits 

’60s Hits 

Blues 

Unavailable 

Unavailable 

Unavailable 


MOVIE 

English 

Top 20 Hits 




New Country Hits New Country Hits New Country Hits 

’80s Hits Children’s Programming 

’80s Hits 

New Country Hits 

Classical Pops 

Top 20 Hits 

Smooth Jazz Smooth Jazz Smooth Jazz Smooth Jazz 

Classic Soul 

Original XM Programs 

Modern Adult Hits 





From the 

Flight Deck Smooth Jazz 

SIRIUS XM’s Exclusive Music Channel presents 

interviews and performances from the original 

music series “Artist Confi dential.” Hear Grammywinner 

Reba McEntire perform songs from her 

latest album, Keep on Loving You. Then Rock and 

Roll Hall of Fame inductees Lynyrd Skynyrd play 

“Sweet Home Alabama.” For more, go to sirius.com 

or xmradio.com.

AUDIO 

PROGRAMMING 

CHANNELS & ARTISTS 

SMOOTH JAZZ Watercolors 

plays the best contemporary jazz 

instrumentals, classic and new, 

blended with just the right vocals. 

It’s contemporary crossover that’s 

always cool. 

WHO YOU’LL HEAR 

Dave Koz, Diana Krall, George 

Benson, Sade, George Duke 

SIRIUS XM’s Exclusive Music Channel 

presents two revealing interviews and 

performances from original music series 

“Artist Confi dential.” The Bangles 

treat you to hits “Manic Monday” 

and “Hazy Shade of Winter.” Singersongwriter 

Kenny Loggins performs 

“I’m Alright” and “This Is It.” For more 

on SIRIUS XM’s “Artist Confi dential,” go 

to sirius.com or xmradio.com. 

MODERN ADULT HITS It’s the ’90s 

and now! Hear today’s pop hits 

from artists like Matchbox 20, 

Alanis Morissette, Maroon 5, Kelly 

Clarkson and the Dave Matthews 

Band. Feel the Pulse of adult pop! 


Daughtry, No Doubt, Colbie Caillat, 

Plain White T’s 

’70S HITS ’70s on 7 takes you back 

to the days of bell bottoms and pet 

rocks, when the music was wider 

than ever—from singer-songwriters 

and classic rock to R&B and disco. 


Elton John, Donna Summer, The 

Eagles, Chicago, Fleetwood Mac 

BLUES From the Delta, Chicago, 

New Orleans and more, B.B. King’s 

Bluesville covers more than 80 years 

of authentic blues. 


B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Etta James, 

Muddy Waters 

CLASSIC SOUL Soul Town is a 

celebration of the Motown, Stax and 

Atlantic record labels—vintage soul 

and classic R&B from the 1960s 

and ’70s. 


James Brown, The Four Tops, 

Aretha Franklin, The Supremes 

CLASSICAL POPS Listen to classical 

music’s greatest hits and 

famous movie music, performed 

by renowned orchestras and 

soloists, on SIRIUS XM Pops. 


Boston Pops, Cincinnati Pops, 

Andrea Bocelli, James Galway, 

Joshua Bell, John Philip Sousa 

’80S HITS “Totally awesome” ’80s 

on 8 sounds like one of the great 

Top 40 stations of the time, with 

rock, rhythm and pop—plus hair 

bands and the original MTV VJs. 


Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, 

Cyndi Lauper, Prince, George 

Michael 

ADULT ALBUM ROCK New music and 

classic tracks from artists who’ve 

stood the test of time, plus quality 

rock from credible new artists. 


U2, Dave Matthews Band, Neil 

Young, Coldplay 

NEW COUNTRY HITS The Highway 

plays the very latest New Country, 

along with the biggest hits of 

the past few years. 


Kenny Chesney, Taylor Swift, Carrie 

Underwood, Keith Urban, Rascal 

Flatts, Sugarland, Tim McGraw 

CLASSIC ROCK Hold your lighters in 

the air. It’s all classic rock of 

the ’60s and ’70s, when music 

came on LPs. Drop the needle 

on Classic Vinyl. 


Creedence Clearwater Revival, 

The Beatles, Pink Floyd, 

Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bad Company, 

Rolling Stones 

NEW ALTERNATIVE The latest 

alternative rock, best of the ’90s 

and the next big thing before it 

becomes so big you can’t stand it. 


Weezer, The Raconteurs, The 

Bravery, Foo Fighters, Death Cab 

for Cutie, Jimmy Eat World 

NEW AGE Spa is a place of peace 

in a sometimes crazy world. It’s a 

beautiful place where you are 

soothed by dreamy, fl owing music. 


Enya, Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream, 

Kevin Braheny, Mark Isham, 

Suzanne Ciani 

CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING Kids 

Place Live features award-winning 

original content blended with a 

music mix of the most popular 

kids’ movie and TV soundtracks, 

plus Children’s Programming’s 

recording artists. 


The Wiggles, Tom Chapin, Dan 

Zanes, They Might Be Giants


XM RADIO AND UNITED offer a sampling of XM’s exclusive music 

channels for your infl ight enjoyment. Find your aircraft model on 

page 125 and review the selections on the channel listing. Everything 

worth listening to is now on XM. 

TOP 20 HITS Top 20 on 20 is the world’s fi rst fully interactive hit music experience, playing just the songs you vote for. 

Cast your vote anytime at 20on20.xmradio.com; then plug in and hear what’s hot. 

WHO YOU’LL HEAR Black Eyed Peas, Fall Out Boy, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Kanye West 

’60S HITS The times they were a-changin’, and so was 

the music. ’60s on 6 revisits surfi n’ tunes, “girl groups,” 

the British invasion, Woodstock. Featuring legendary 

DJ Cousin Brucie. 

WHO YOU’LL HEAR The Beatles, Beach Boys, Bob Dylan 

127 

ADULT CONTEMPORARY HITS The Blend is the musical 

soundtrack of your life—a great mix of Lite pop hits 

from the ’70s through today; never any rap or rock. 

WHO YOU’LL HEAR Rod Stewart, Billy Joel, Madonna, 

Eric Clapton, John Mellencamp

ROUTE MAPS 

NORTH AMERICAN CITIES 

United Route 

United Express Route 

Code Share route serviced by a 

United Partner 

 

 

Anchorage 

 

 

 

 

 

Honolulu 

Kapalua 

 

 

 

Vancouver 

 

Victoria 

Seattle 

 

 

 

 

 

Calgary 

 

Saskatoon 

 

 

 

 

Spokane 

Kalispell 

Portland Pasco 

Eugene 

Redmond 

Medford 

 

Crescent City 

Eureka 

Redding 

Chico 

Winnipeg 

Missoula 

Great Falls 

Williston 

 

 

 

 

 

Bozeman 

Dickinson Bismarck 

Billings 

Fargo 

Boise Cody/ 

Yellowstone 

Sheridan 

Idaho Falls 

Worland Gillette 

 

 

Jackson Hole 

Rapid City 

Minneap 

PierreHuron 

Sacramento 

 

Reno/Tahoe 

Riverton 

Casper 

Rock Springs 

Chadron 

Sioux 

Falls 

 

SAN FRANCISCO Oakland 

San Jose 

Modesto 

Fresno 

Monterey 

 

Inyokern 

San Luis Obispo 

Bakersfield 

Santa Maria 

Santa Barbara Burbank 

Oxnard LOS ANGELES 

Scottsbluff 

Salt Lake City 

Alliance 

Laramie 

Hayden/ 

Cheyenne 

Steamboat 

North Platte 

Omaha 

Springs 

Des 

Grand 

 

Kearney 

Moines 

Junction Vail/Eagle 

DENVER 

Aspen 

Lincoln 

Montrose Gunnison/ 

Colorado Springs 

Las Vegas 

Crested 

Hays 

Page/ 

Butte 

Salina 

Cortez 

Pueblo 

Kansas City 

Lake Powell 

Durango 

Farmington Alamosa 

Garden City 

Orange County 

Carlsbad 

Ontario 

Palm Springs 

 

Dodge City 

Liberal 

Wichita 

Springfie 

San Diego 

Imperial 

Yuma 

Show Low 

Phoenix/Scottsdale 

Albuquerque 

Oklahoma City 

Tulsa 

Northwe 

Arkansas 

Manhattan 

Moses 

Lake 

Regina 

North Bend 

Klamath 

Falls 

Glasgow 

Wolf Point 

Helena 

Lewistown 

Sidney 

Miles City 

Merced 

Visalia 

Vernal 

Moab 

McCook 

Telluride 

Great Bend 

B 

Prescott 

Kahului 

 

Kona 

0 50 100 150 Miles 

0 50 100 150 200 Kilometers 

Hilo 

• Cities served by United, United 

Express and Code Share partners 

Cities served by Star Alliance 

members 

Tucson 

Los Cabos 

Time zone boundary 

UNITED HUB 

Route lines do not refl ect actual fl ight path 

 

Edmonton 

 

El Paso 

Puerto Vallarta 

 

Midland/ 

Odessa 

 

San Antonio 

Austin 

Mexico City 

 

 

Dallas/ 

Fort 

Worth 

Houston

Duluth 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ottawa 

 

 

Burlington 

Wausau 

Portland 

olis 

Green Bay Traverse City 

 

Toronto 

Manchester 

 

Syracuse 

Appleton/ 

Albany 

Fox Cities 

Boston 

Grand 

Midland/ 

Ithaca/ 

Rochester Elmira/ 

Milwaukee Rapids 

Saginaw 

Corning 

Buffalo/ 

Corning 

Hartford/ 

London 

Springfield 

Niagara 

Binghamton 

Madison 

Lansing 

Falls 

 

Providence 

Detroit 

Wilkes Barre/ 

South 

Erie 

White 

Cedar 

Scranton 

Long Island/Islip 

Bend/Elkhart/ 

Plains 

Rapids/ 

Mishawaka 

Cleveland 

Newark New York (La Guardia) 

Iowa City 

State 

(J.F. Kennedy) 

Akron/Canton 

Allentown 

 

College 

 

Burlington Peoria Ft. 

Philadelphia 

Moline 

Pittsburgh 

Wayne Columbus Johnstown Harrisburg 

Baltimore 

 

Altoona 

 

Dayton 

Morgantown 

 

Springfield Indianapolis 

Clarksburg WASHINGTON, DC (DULLES) 

Parkersburg 

(Reagan National) 

Cincinnati 

Shenandoah 

St. Louis 

Valley Charlottesville 

Louisville 

Charleston 

Richmond 

Lexington Beckley Lynchburg 

Waynesville 

Norfolk/Virginia Beach 

eld 

Roanoke Newport News/Williamsburg 

st 

s 

 

 

Tri-Cities Regional Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem 

Raleigh/Durham 

Nashville Knoxville 

Charlotte Greenville 

New Bern 

 

Asheville 

Fayetteville/Ft. Bragg 

Little 

Rock 

Memphis 

Huntsville/ 

Decatur 

Jacksonville 

Greenville/Spartanburg 

Wilmington 

Columbia 

Myrtle Beach 

Atlanta 

 

Birmingham Augusta 

Charleston 

 

Hilton Head Island 

 

Savannah 

 

 

 

 

New 

Orleans 

 

Pensacola Tallahassee 

Tampa/St. Petersburg 

Jacksonville 

 

Orlando 

Sarasota/Bradenton West Palm Beach 

Freeport 

Ft. Myers 

Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood 

Key West 

Gainesville 

Miami 

 

 

Providenciales 

 

 

Cozumel 

 

Grand Cayman 

 

 

St. Maarten 

St. Thomas 

Antigua 

San Juan 

Punta Cana 

 

St. Kitts 

 

 

Santo Domingo 

0 100 200 300 400 Miles 

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 Kilometers 

Nassau 

Montego Bay 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Halifax 

 

 

 

 

Hamilton 

 

 

 

 

St. Lucia 

129

Delhi 

 

 

ROUTE MAPS 

INTERNATIONAL CITIES 

 

United Route 





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perth 

 

 

 

 

Harbin 

 

Shenyang Sapporo 

 

Beijing 

 

 

Baotou 

 

Dalian 

Fukuoka Sendai 

Seoul 

Qingdao 

 

Komatsu 

Tokyo 

Shanghai Pusan OsakaNagoya 

Nanjing 

Chengdu Wuhan 

Hiroshima 

Chongqing Hangzhou 

 

Xiamen 

Fuzhou 

 

Okinawa 

Guangzhou Taipei 

 

 

Kolkata Hanoi 

 

Hong Kong 

Shenzhen 

 

 

 

 

Bangkok 

 

Saipan 

 

 

 

Phuket 

Kuala Lumpur 

Singapore 

 

Ho Chi Minh 

City (Saigon) 

Kota Kinabalu 

 

 

Adelaide 

• Cities served by United, United 

Express and Code Share partners 

Melbourne 

 

 

 

 

 

Cairns 

Sydney 

 

Brisbane 

Gold Coast 

Canberra 

 

 

 

Queenstown 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nadi 

 

 

 

Auckland 

Rotorua 

Wellington 

Christchurch 

Dunedin 

 

 

 

 

Time zone boundary 

Route lines do not refl ect actual fl ight path 

 

Apia 

 

Honolulu 

 

 

Rarotonga Cook 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

San Francisco 

 

Seattle 

Portland 

Los Angeles 

 

 

 

 

Denver 

 

 

 

Dallas 

Guatem 

San 

M

Philadelphia 

Miami 

Aruba 

New York 

Boston 

Frankfurt 

Belize 

City 

Washington, DC 

Rio de Janeiro 

Copenhagen 

Chicago 

Newark 

Addis Ababa 

Paris 

Chennai (Madras) 

Tel Aviv 

Kuwait 

Lagos 

Johannesburg 

Munich 

Houston 

Accra 

Bangalore 

Mumbai 

Rome 

Delhi 

Amman 

Alma-Ata 

Amsterdam 

Cape Town 

Madrid 

Stockholm 

London 

Dubai 

Abu Dhabi Muscat 

Vienna 

Atlanta 

s 

Detroit 

Warsaw 

Shannon 

Buenos Aires 

ala City 

Salvador 

Brussels 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cairo 

Asmara 

Bahrain 

Dakar 

Lisbon 

Durban 

East London 

Porto 

Hyderabad 

Orlando 

Tbilisi 

Port Elizabeth 

Lima 

Cuzco 

Tegucigalpa 

San Pedro Sula 

anagua 

Cochin 

Colombo 

Islamabad 

Lahore 

Peshawar 

Trivandrum 

Liberia 

Doha 

Abuja 

Karachi 

Geneva 

Brasilia 

Curitiba 

Fortaleza 

Manaus 

Porto Alegre 

Salvador 

Belo Horizonte 

Iguassu Falls 

Recife 

Dublin 

Moscow 

Charlotte 

Jeddah 

Riyadh 

Sal 

Istanbul 

 

 

 

 

131 

Budapest 

Lisbon 

 

 

Porto 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turin 

Lyon Geneva 

Paris 

London 

Oslo 

Copenhagen 

Hamburg 

Brussels 

Hannover 

Frankfurt 

Nuremberg 

Milan 

Venice 

Pisa 

Rome 

Naples 

Trieste 

Istanbul 

Bucharest 

Kiev 

Vienna 

Munich 

Prague 

Warsaw 

Helsinki 

Luga 

 

 

Berlin 

 

Bremen 

 

 

 

Graz 

Innsbruck Klagenfurt 

Linz 

Salzburg 

Sofia 

Sarajevo 

Cologne 

Dresden 

Verona 

Vilnius 

Katowice 

Marseille Nice 

Stuttgart 

Riga 

Stavanger 

Ancona 

Dublin 

Bologna 

Florence 

Genoa 

Stockholm 

Amsterdam 

Basel 

Aberdeen 

Edinburgh 

Belfast 

Birmingham 

 

Bergen 

Ankara 

Glasgow 

Manchester 

Skopje 

Belgrade 

 

Shannon 

Cork 

Adan 

Antalya 

Izmir 

Leipzig 

HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM | DECEMBER 2009

TERMINAL DIAGRAMS 

DOMESTIC 

MAKING YOUR CONNECTING FLIGHT. Whether your next fl ight is on United or one of the Star 

Alliance partners around the world, use the terminal diagrams on pages 132–136 to plan 

your connection. In addition to gate locations, these maps show ticket counters, United 

Red Carpet Clubs and interterminal transportation. 

CONTACT INFORMATION 

Reservations 

united.com 

800-UNITED-1 (800-864-8331) 

Automated Flight Information 

800-UNITED-1 (800-864-8331) 

Mileage Plus 

24-Hour Account Information & 

Award Travel 

united.com/mileageplus 

800-UNITED-1 (800-864-8331) 

Mileage Plus Visa Customer 

Service 

united.com/chase 

800-537-7783 

Baggage Services 

united.com/baggage 

800-UNITED-1 (800-864-8331) 

Refunds 

united.com/refunds 

800-UNITED-1 (800-864-8331) 

ORD 

CHICAGO / O’HARE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 

United Gate Area 

United Premier Check-in 

United Check-in 

United First International Lounge 

United Arrivals Suite 

International Arrivals Suite (except from Canada) 

United Red Carpet Club 

Lufthansa Check-in 

SAS Check-in 

Air Canada Gate Area 

Air Canada Check-in 

ANA Check-in 

bmi Check-in 

US Airways Gate Area 

US Airways Check-in 

Asiana Check-in 

Underground Corridors, Moving Sidewalks 

Elevated Airport Transit Systems (ATS) 

★ United Easy Check-in 

Medical Center 

★ Airport Play Area—Kids on the Fly 

Customer Relations 

united.com/customerrelations 

Email: customerrelations@ 

united.com 

800-UNITED-1 (800-864-8331) 

Red Carpet Club 

united.com/redcarpetclub 

866-UA-CLUBS (toll-free) 

520-881-0500 (outside the U.S.) 

Hearing Impaired (TDD) 

800-323-0170 

Language Assistance (Asian) 

800-426-5560 

Reservaciones en Español 

800-426-5561 

United Cargo 

unitedcargo.com 

800-UA-CARGO (800-822-2746) 

United Services 

unitedsvcs.com 

➡ 

International 

Terminal Five 

To Remote Parking 

CONCOURSE M 

Roadway 

Meetings Plus 

800-MEET-UAL (800-633-8825) 

Duty Free World 

6095 NW 167th St. Suite D-4 

Miami, FL 33015 USA 

800-668-6182 

United Vacations 

unitedvacations.com 

800-32-TOURS (800-328-6877) 

Charter an Airplane 

united.com/charter 

Small Package Same Day 

Shipping 

Small Package Dispatch (SPD)— 

Airport-to-airport service: 

800-722-5243 

Employment Opportunities 

united.com/jobs 

888-UAL-JOBS (888-825-5627) 

CONCOURSE F 

CONCOURSE E 

CONCOURSE G 

CONCOURSE H 

F3 

F1 E1 

B2 

CONCOURSE K 

Roadway 

HOTEL 

BUS/SHUTTLE 

CENTER 

Parking Garage 

LOT A 

CONCOURSE L 

B3 F14 

F11 H F12 

F9 F10 

F8 

F7 

F6 

F5 

F4 

E10 

CONCOURSE C 

C2 

C1 C4 

C6 

C3 C8 

C5 C10 

H 

TERMINAL F2 

TWO 

H 

E3 

E2A 

E2 

E1A 

CONCOURSE B 

B4 

B1 B5 

C7 C12 

C9 C16 

C11 

C15 C18 

C17 H C18A 

C20 

B6 

C19 C22 

B7 

H B8 

B9 

B10 

B11 

C21 C24 

C26 

C23 C28 

C25 C30 

C27 C32 

C29 C31 

B12 

B14 

H 

B15 

B16 

B17 

B18 

B19 

B20 

B21 

B22 

TERMINAL THREE 

EasyCheck-in kiosks are located 

on the concourse to assist 

customers who have experienced 

a misconnection or canceled 

fl ight. Customers who have 

e-tickets and are traveling 

domestically may use the kiosk to: 

1. Rebook on another fl ight 

2. Obtain a boarding pass 

3. Standby for the next fl ight to 

their destination 

EasyCheck-in is available at this airport. 

HOTEL 

TERMINAL ONE 

Hotel Courtesy Shuttle, Pace Bus, 

Regional Buses, Off-Site Rent-a-Car, 

Off-Site Parking Shuttle. Follow the 

overhead signs in Baggage Claim.

TRAVEL ASSISTANCE FOR DELAYED OR CANCELED FLIGHTS 

At United Airlines, our priority is safety and keeping an on-time 

schedule. On occasion, canceling or delaying a fl ight is the only option 

to assure we maintain the highest safety standards. 

Flight canceled? We automatically confi rm you on the next United 

fl ight with available seats. EasyCheck-in® units located in the concourse 

will assist you with information and a boarding pass—it will also help 

you standby for an earlier United fl ight if one is scheduled. If you want 

to travel standby and aren’t boarded, we will transfer your name to the 

next United fl ight to your destination until you are onboard. 

What about my bag? Baggage is boarded on the next fl ight if space 

is available. This means your bags may arrive before you. United will 

secure the bag until you claim it. See a baggage claim representative. 

What if I have to stay overnight? If a fl ight is canceled to address a 

mechanical issue or another similar reason within our control, we 

IAD 

WASHINGTON / DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 




International Arrivals Suite (except from Canada) 



Lufthansa Gate Area 




ANA Check-in 

ANA Fuji Lounge/Gate Area 

Austrian Airlines Check-in 

Austrian Airlines Gate Area 

SAS Gate Area 

BWIA Gate 

Shuttle Train 

LAX 

LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 

South African Airways 

US Airways Gates 









Thai Airways Check-in 


Air New Zealand Check-in 

ANA Check-in 

Inter-Terminal Shuttle Bus Stop (Arrival Level) 

Singapore Check-in 

US Airways Club 



Asiana Check-in 


International Arrivals 

Facility for Connecting 

Passengers 

(Lower Level) 

C2 C4 

CONCOURSE C 

C6 C8 C12 C14 C16 

C28 

C18 C20 C22 C24 C26 

H 

D2 D4 D6 

CONCOURSE D 

D8 D10 D14 D16 D18 D20 D30 

C1 C3 C5 C7 C9 C11 C17 C19 C23 C27 

D1 D3 ★ 

D5 D7 D11 

D15 D23 

A2 A4 

H 

A6 

A14/16 

CONCOURSE A 

A32 

CONCOURSE B 

A1 A3 A5 

Pedestrian 

Walkway 

B37 B39 B41 B45 B47 B79 

CONCOURSE A 

TOM BRADLEY 

INTERNATIONAL 

TERMINAL 

Terminal 

Upper Level 

C Connector Tunnel 

TERMINAL 3 


will provide you with a hotel and meal voucher. For uncontrollable 

events—such as weather—we may be able to help you locate a local 

hotel at a discounted rate; however United does not cover hotel or 

meal expenses in this event. If we can not retrieve your checked bag, 

overnight kits containing toiletries are available. Please see an agent. 

What if the reason for my travel no longer exists? If as a result of the 

delay or cancelation you decide not to travel, call United reservations 

(1-800 UNITED-1) to get information on your options. 

Help us help you keep informed. Sign up for EasyUpdate®, our messaging 

service. If your fl ight is canceled or delayed, EasyUpdate® will 

inform you. Enroll at united.com/easyupdate. At home? Go to united. 

com for information or to check-in and print your boarding pass. 

Your safety and satisfaction are important. We appreciate your business 

and apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. 

Z GATES 


TERMINAL 

Parking 

TERMINAL 1 12 

TERMINAL 2 

8 

US Airways Club 4B 

Roadway 

International 

Arrivals Building 


133 

Transportation to 

International Arrivals 

Building for Washington 

Passengers Only 

US Airways Ticket Counter 

(Upper Level) 

Mezzanine 71A 

Level ★ 70A 

71B 

70B 

73 

66 

72 

75A 

75B 74 

68B 

69B 

77 76 

80 

81 ★ 

82 

83 

84 

85 

86 

87 

88 

TERMINAL 4 TERMINAL 5 TERMINAL 6 TERMINAL 7 TERMINAL 8

DEN 

DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 




International Arrival Processing 






Lufthansa Gate Area 

Underground Train 

Medical Center (level six) 

★ United EasyCheck-in 

SFO 

HNL 


DOMESTIC & OVERSEAS 





SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 

United Arrivals and Departures (Domestic) 


United Domestic Check-in 

United International Check-in & Departure Gates 



United Arrivals Suite (lower level) 

Singapore Check-in 


Air China Check-in 



Asiana Airlines 

Air New Zealand 



HONOLULU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 



United Red Carpet Club (Third Level) 

Air New Zealand (Courtyard, Lower Level) 

ANA (Courtyard, Lower Level) 



Pedestrian Corridor 

Inter-Terminal Shuttle Bus Stop 

Medical Center (Courtyard, Lower Level) 

29 

CONCOURSE C 

57 59 61 63 67 69 71 73 75 

15 17 19 21 23 25 

★ 

27 

29 31 

33 35 

★ 

37 

39 41 

★ 

43 45 47 49 51 53 57 

55 

★ 

77 

79 

16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 

38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 

CONCOURSE B 

81 83 85 87 89 91 

4143 

80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 

28 

30 

93 

95 



℞ Harmony Pharmacy & Health Center 

is in the Terminal 3, Concourse F hub 

33 35 

Terminal West 

International Terminal 

Secure Connector 

DIAMOND HEAD CONCOURSE 

GATES 6-11 

6 7 8 

9 

★ 

10 

DIAMOND 

HEAD 11 

Terminal East 


CONCOURSE A 


79 

TERMINAL 3 

CONCOURSE F 

88 86 84 82 80 

90 

89 87A 87 85 83 81 

CONCOURSE G 

(Gates G91-G102) 


CENTRAL CONCOURSE 

GATES 14-23 

GATES 12-13 GATES 24-25 

Roadway 

7 

72 

73 

74 

75 

Parking Garage 

78B 

78A 

77B 

77A 

76B 

76A 

61 

68 

69 

70 

71 

TERMINAL 1 

CONCOURSE A 

(Gates 1-12) 

EWA CONCOURSE 

GATES 26-34 

GATES 49-54 

INTERISLAND 

TERMINAL 

GATES 55-66 

CONCOURSE B 

B26 

B27 

B28 

B30 B29

LHR 

LONDON / HEATHROW INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 




Arrivals Lounge 


SAS Check-in 

bmi Check-in 

Star Alliance Departure Lounge 

Flight Connections 

FRA 

FRANKFURT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 



United Arrivals Suite 



Lufthansa Senator Club 

Lufthansa Business Class Lounge 


Train Station 




NRT 

TOKYO / NARITA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 


United and Star Alliance Premier Check-in 

United and Star Alliance Check-in 

Air New Zealand (Terminal 2) 

United Red Carpet Club (Third Floor) 

United First International Lounge (Fourth Floor) 


ANA Lounge 

TERMINAL 5 

36 

38 

40 

42 

PIER A, LEVEL 3 (Gates A51-A65) 

34 

32 

30 24 

35 28 

26 

31 

21 

19 

29 

22 

17 

TERMINAL 3 

27 

20 

16 

25 

18 

PIER A, LEVEL 2 (Gates A1-A42) 

23 

Escalator 

Pedestrian Transfer Tunnel 

B25 

B26 

11 

13 

BUS TRANSFER 

To/From Terminals 1, 2, 3 & 5 

TERMINAL 4 

B24 

43 42 41 

44 

45 


90 88 86 84 82 80 78 76 

9 

B22 

B27 

46 

47 

SATELLITE 4 

TERMINAL 1 

B11-B16 

B28 

B20 

38 

Pedestrian Transfer Tunnel 

Gates 51-58 

B300-B303 

B10 

B23 

74 

7 5 3 1 

37 35 33 31 

Gates 31-47 

SATELLITE 3 

55 

SATELLITE 

56 

B332-B340 

PIER B 

South Wing 

52 51 

57 

BUS TRANSFER 

To/From Terminals 3, 4 & 5 

9 

7 

5 

3 

1 8 

TERMINAL 1 

11 

6 

29 

27 

25 

23 

21 

19 

17 

B30-B35 

58 

32 

B42 

B1, B2 

B3-B9 

B41 

B48 

16 18 

5 

2 7 

4 9 

6 

11 8 

13 

12 15 

14 

3 

C1-C3 

B43 

B47 

36 

10 

TERMINAL 2 

(Closing Early 2009) 

C4 

38 

B44 

37 

TERMINAL 1 

C5 

B46 

B45 

PIER C 

40 

42 

C6 

39 41 43 

46 48 50 52 54 56 

C7-C9 

C8 

Train to Terminal 2 

Gates 21-25 

SATELLITE 2 

North Wing 

135 

SATELLITE 1 

Gates 11-

CLT 


US AIRWAYS HUBS 

CHARLOTTE DOUGLAS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 




US Airways Express Gate Area 



US Airways Club and Business Center 

Special Services Counter 


LAS 

LAS VEGAS / MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 






Special Services Counter 

PHL 

PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 





US Airways Express Gate Area 


US Airways International Check-in 


Special Services Counters 

US Airways Express Check-in 

US Airways Club and Envoy Lounge 


PHX 





PHOENIX SKY HARBOR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 





US Airways Club and Business Center 

Special Services Counters 


Gates 10-19 

★ 

CONCOURSE E 

Gates 18-26 

Gates 

D1-D14 

CONCOURSE D 

CONCOURSE A 

WEST 

TERMINAL 2 

1 3 

5 

7 

Gates 

Gates 1-9 

Gates 20-26 

Gates 

D31-D43 

17 16 15 14 

Transatlantic 

Gates 

(All Carriers) 

Gates 

A17-A30 

Gates 

D17-D26 

CONCOURSE C CONCOURSE B 

CONCOURSE D 

CONCOURSE A 

EAST 


Gates 1-13 

Gates 2-19 Gates 1-16 

Gates 

D50-D58 

CONCOURSE B 

Gates 

B9-B17 

Continuous Shuttle Bus Pickup and 

Drop-off Between Gates F10 and C16 

1 

Gates 

1-16 

Food Court 

Gates 

16-31 

CONCOURSE C 

Gates 

B19-B25 

B6 

B2 

B1 

Gates 

24-39 

Gates 1-23 

CONCOURSE B 

CONCOURSE A 

A3 A5 A8 A7 

Gates 

A17-A23 


1 

3 

57 CONCOURSE D 

91113 


CONCOURSE A 

To transfer between terminals, 

catch the interterminal bus curbside. 

TERMINAL 4 

Gates 

A1-A14 

CONCOURSE B 

Gates 

B1-B14 

★ 

INTERNATIONAL 

CONCOURSE B 

CONCOURSE A 

2 4 

★ 

CONCOURSE F 

CONCOURSE E 

Gates 

B15-B28 

Gates 

A10-A15

ENJOY A WORLD OF STAR ALLIANCE CONNECTIONS AND PRIVILEGES. On December 9, Brussels 

Airlines joins Mileage Plus as the newest airline partner and a member of the Star Alliance. 

Earn or redeem Mileage Plus miles when you fl y on our newest partner. Brussels Airlines 

offers fl ights within Europe and from Brussels to the Middle East, Africa and Asia. 

ALLIANCES AND PARTNERSHIPS 

STAR ALLIANCE PARTNERS 

REGIONAL ALLIANCE PARTNERS 

You can earn and redeem miles on many of our Regional 

Alliance Partners. See united.com/airlinepartners for specifi c 

information about each of our Regional Alliance Partners. 

Aer Lingus 

Air Dolomiti 

Continental Connection 

Emirates 

Great Lakes 

Hawaiian Airlines 

Island Air 

Jet Airways 

Qatar Airways 

TACA Group 

TAM 

Virgin Blue 


137 

STAR ALLIANCE Established in 1997 as the fi rst 

truly global airline alliance to offer customers a 

worldwide travel network that aims to provide 

customers a seamless travel experience across 

multiple airlines. Today the Star Alliance network 

offers more than 18,900 daily fl ights to 983 

destinations in 169 countries. 

EARN MILEAGE PLUS® MILES AND ELITE STATUS FASTER 

With the largest airline alliance, you can earn 

miles almost anywhere in the world you fl y. The 

miles you earn on any Star Alliance fl ight can 

be credited to your Mileage Plus account. Plus 

the fl ight miles will count toward elite status in 

Mileage Plus. 

EARN RECOGNITION AROUND THE WORLD The more 

miles you fl y with United and the Star Alliance 

airlines, the higher your Mileage Plus elite status 

can be: Premier®, Premier Executive® or 1K®. 

Mileage Plus elite status is recognized across 

the alliance as either Star Alliance Silver or Star 

Alliance Gold, with travel benefi ts worldwide. See 

united.com/staralliance for the Star Silver and Star 

Gold benefi ts you can receive. 

AWARD TRAVEL IS NOW EASIER With Star Alliance 

Awards, you can use your Mileage Plus miles 

for award travel on any Star Alliance carrier 

worldwide. Or use them for Star Alliance Upgrade 

Awards and upgrade to a premium cabin and 

travel in comfort (available on most Star Alliance 

airlines).

CUSTOMS 

& IMMIGRATION 

ENTRY REGULATIONS 

CUSTOMS DECLARATION 

ENGLISH 

All passengers (or one per family) are 

required to complete the Customs 

Declaration forms prior to arrival in the U.S. 

The forms will be distributed infl ight and 

should include all personal data in English 

and in capital letters. Please ensure you sign 

your name. 

SPANISH/ESPAÑOL 

Todos los pasajeros (o uno por cada familia) 

tienen que llenar los formularios de 

Declaración de Aduanas antes de llegar a 

los EE.UU. Los formularios se distribuirán 

durante el veulo y deben incluir todos sus 

datos personales en inglés y con letras 

mayúsculas. No olvide fi rmar en el reverso 

del formulario. 

1. Apellido, Nombre, Segundo 

nombre 

2. Fecha de nacimiento 

HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 

The following items are considered hazardous 

materials. Do not pack in checked or 

carry-on luggage. 

FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS OR SOLIDS 

Fuel, paints, solvents, lighter fl uid, matches 

WEAPONS 

Loaded fi rearms, ammunition, gunpowder, 

Mace, tear gas, pepper spray 

HOUSEHOLD ITEMS 

Drain cleaners and solvents 

COMPRESSED GASES 

Spray can, butane fuel, oxygen bottles 

FIREWORKS 

Firecrackers, sparklers or explosives 

OTHER HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 

Dry ice, gasoline-powered tools, camping 

equipment with fuel, wet cell batteries, 

oxidizers, corrosives, radioactive materials, 

(Día/Mes/Año) 

3. Cuántos familiares viajan con usted 

4. (a) Dirección en los EE.UU. 

(nombre del hotel/lugar) 

(b) Ciudad, (c) Estado 

5. Pasaporte expedido en (páis) 

6. Número del pasaporte 

7. País de residencia 

8. Países que visitó durante este viaje 

antes de su llegada a los EE.UU. 

9. Línea aérea/número de vuelo o nombre 

del barco 

10. El propósito principal de este viaje es de 

negocios: Sí / No 

11. Traigo (Traemos) 

(a) frutas, plantas, alimentos, insectos: 

Sí / No 

(b) carnes, animales, productos de 

animales o silvestres: Sí / No 

(c) agentes de enfermedades, cultivos 

celulares, caracoles:Sí / No 

(d) tierra o he (hemos) estado en fi nca/ 

granja/pastizales: Sí / No 

12. He (Hemos) estado en cercanías de 

ganado (tocando o manipulándolo): 

Sí / No 

13. Llevo (Llevamos) divisas o 

instrumentos monetarios por valor 

superior a $10,000 o su equivalente en 

moneda extranjera (Véase la defi nición 

de instrumentos monetarios al dorso): 

Sí / No 

14. Tengo (Tenemos) mercancías 

comerciales (artículos para la venta, 

muestras para solicitar pedidos o bienes 

que no constituyen efectos personales): 

Sí / No 

15. Residentes—el valor total de todos 

los bienes, incluidas las mercancías 

comerciales que he (hemos) comprado 

en el extranjero, (incluyendo regalos 

para otras personas, pero sin incluir 

los artículos enviados por correo a 

los EE.UU.) y que estoy (estamos) 

introduciendo en los EE.UU. es de: 

$___ 

Visitantes—el valor total de todos 

los artículos que permanecerán en 

los EE.UU., incluidas las mercancías 

comerciales, es de: $___ 

I-94 ARRIVAL / DEPARTURE RECORD 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY OMB No. 1651-0111 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

Welcome to the United States 

I-94 Arrival/Departure Record 

Instructions 

This form must be completed by all persons except U.S. Citizens, returning resident aliens, 

aliens with immigrant visas, and Canadian Citizens visiting or in transit. 

Type or print legibly with pen in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. Use English. Do not write on the 

back of this form. 

This form is in two parts. Please complete both the Arrival Record (Items 1 through 17) and 

the Departure Record (Items 18 through 21). 

When all items are completed, present this form to the CBP Officer. 

Item 9 - If you are entering the United States by land, enter LAND in this space. If you are 

entering the United States by ship, enter SEA in this space. 

5 U.S.C. § 552a(e)(3) Privacy Act Notice: Information collected on this form is required by Title 8 of the U.S. Code, 

including the INA (8 U.S.C. 1103, 1187), and 8 CFR 235.1, 264, and 1235.1. The purposes for this collection are to 

give the terms of admission and document the arrival and departure of nonimmigrant aliens to the U.S. The 

information solicited on this form may be made available to other government agencies for law enforcement purposes 

or to assist DHS in determining your admissibility. All nonimmigrant aliens seeking admission to the U.S., unless 

otherwise exempted, must provide this information. Failure to provide this information may deny you entry to the 

United States and result in your removal. 

CBP Form I-94 (05/08) 

OMB No. 1651-0111 

Arrival Record 

Admission Number 

See Other Side 

ENGLISH 

Prior to arrival in the U.S., all foreign 

nationals (except Canadian citizens and 

U.S. permanent residents or nationals 

of countries entitled to the Visa Waiver 

Program—see I-94W on next page) are 

required to complete an I-94 form. One 

form is required for each family member. 

Customers should complete all personal and 

travel-related information included on the 

front side of the form. Please do not write on 

ENGLISH 

000000000 00 

1. Family Name 

2. First (Given) Name 3. Birth Date (DD/MM/YY) 

4. Country of Citizenship 5. Sex (Male or Female) 

6. Passport Issue Date (DD/MM/YY) 7. Passport Expiration Date (DD/MM/YY) 

8. Passport Number 9. Airline and Flight Number 

10. Country Where You Live 11. Country Where You Boarded 

12. City Where Visa Was Issued 13. Date Issued (DD/MM/YY) 

14. Address While in the United States (Number and Street) 

15. City and State 

16. Telephone Number in the U.S. Where You Can be Reached 

17. Email Address 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 


Departure Record 


000000000 00 


CBP Form I-94 (05/08) 

OMB No. 1651-0111 


21. Country of Citizenship 

CBP Form I-94 (05/08) 

STAPLE HERE 

Effective January 12, 2009, all passengers 

who intend to travel to the United States 

without a U.S. Visa under the terms of 

the Visa Waiver Program must obtain 

an electronic preauthorization or ESTA 

in advance of travel. When planning 

international travel, please be sure that 

you are in possession of all required 

documents. Remember to allow ample time 

for acquiring offi cial travel documents. For 

complete information on the requirements, 

and to apply for ESTA, please visit www. 

cbp.gov/esta. 

the back side of the form. All information 

should be written in capital letters and in 

English. You are required to keep this form 

until your departure from the U.S. 

SPANISH / ESPAÑOL 

Antes de su llegada a los Estados Unidos, 

todos los ciudadanos extranjeros (excepto 

los ciudadanos de Canadá y los residentes 

permanentes en los Estados Unidos o 

ciudadanos de los países que tienen el 

Programa “Visa Waiver”—Ver formulario 

I-94W en hoja adjunta) tienen que llenar 

un formulario I-94. Hay que rellenar un 

formulario por cada miembro de la familia. 

Los pasajeros llenarán toda la información 

personal y relativa al viaje que se incluye en 

el anverso del formulario. Le rogamos que 

no escriba en el reverso del formulario. Toda 

la información debe estar escrita con letras 

mayúsculas y en inglés. Le rogamos que 

guarde este formulario hasta que salga de 

los Estados Unidos. 

1. Apellido 

2. Nombre 



4. País de ciudadanía 

5. Sexo (masculino o femenino) 

6. Fecha de emisión del pasaporte 

7. Fecha de vencimiento del pasaporte 

8. Número de pasaporte 

9. Aerolínea y número de vuelo 

10. País donde vives 

11. País en el que abordaron 

12. Ciudad donde obtuvo el visado 

13. Fecha del visado (Día/Mes/Año) 

14. Direccion donde se quedará en los 

EE.UU (Número, calle) 

15. Ciudad y Estado 

16. Teléfono de contacto en EE.UU. 

17. Dirección de correo electrónico 

18. Apellido 

19. Nombre 

20. Fecha de nacimiento (Día/Mes/Año) 

21. Pais de ciudadanía 

HAZARDOUS MATERIALS NOTICE & IMPORT RESTRICTIONS ELECTRONIC SYSTEM FOR TRAVEL AUTHORIZATION 

poisons, infectious substances 

NOTE 

There are special exceptions for small 

quantities of up to 70 oz. (2 kg or 2 liters) of 

medicinal and toilet articles carried in your 

luggage. For further information, check with 

any airline representative. 

IMPORT RESTRICTIONS 

Please note new controls on the import of 

meat, fi sh, plants and their products into the 

United Kingdom and European Union. Check 

the advisory notices displayed in the baggage 

hall for a detailed explanation of these 

restrictions. If you possess any of these items, 

please declare them to customs in the red 

channel to avoid legal consequences. 


A partir del 12 de enero de 2009, todos los 

pasajeros que quieran viajar a los EE.UU. 

(entre los terminos del programa de no tener 

que usar la Visa) tendran que obtener una 

preautorización electronica o ESTA antes 

de viajar. Cuando estés coordinando viajes 

internacionales, este seguro que tenga todos 

los documentos requerídos. No se olvide 

de dejar tiempo sufi ciente para adquirir los 

documentos ofi ciales de viaje. 

Para información completa sobre todos los 

requisitos, y para aplicar para ESTA, por 

favor visite www.cbp.gov/esta.

I-94 NONIMMIGRANT VISA WAIVER / FRONT 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 

OMB No. 1651-0111 


Welcome to the United States 

I-94W Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver Arrival/Departure Record 

Instructions 

This form must be completed by every nonimmigrant visitor not in possession of a visitor’s 

visa, who is a national of one of the countries enumerated in 8 CFR 217. The airline can 

provide you with the current list of eligible countries. 

Type or print legibly with pen in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. USE ENGLISH 

This form is in two parts. Please complete both the Arrival Record (Items 1 through 15) and 

the Departure Record (Items 18 through 21). The reverse side of this form must be signed 

and dated. Children under the age of fourteen must have their form signed by a parent or 

guardian. 

Item 9 - If you are entering the United States by land, enter LAND in this space. 

If you are entering the United States by ship, enter SEA in this space. 

5 U.S.C. § 552a(e)(3) Privacy Act Notice: Information collected on this form is required by Title 8 of the U.S. Code, 

including the INA (8 U.S.C. 1103, 1187), and 8 CFR 235.1, 264, and 1235.1. The purposes for this collection are to 

give the terms of admission and document the arrival and departure of nonimmigrant aliens to the U.S. The 

information solicited on this form may be made available to other government agencies for law enforcement purposes 

or to assist DHS in determining your admissibility. All nonimmigrant aliens seeking admission to the U.S., unless 

otherwise exempted, must provide this information. Failure to provide this information may deny you entry to the 

United States and result in your removal. 


00000000000 

Arrival Record 

VISA WAIVER 



4. Country of Citizenship 5. Sex (Male or Female) 

6. Passport Issue Date (DD/MM/YY) 7. Passport Expiration Date (DD/MM/YY) 

8. Passport Number 9. Airline and Flight Number 

10. Country Where You Live 11. City Where You Boarded 

12. Address While in the United States (Number and Street) 

13. City and State 

14. Telephone Number in the U.S. Where You Can be Reached 

15. Email Address 

16. 17. 


00000000000 


VISA WAIVER 


See Other Side 

CBP Form I-94W (05/08) 

OMB No. 1651-0111 


21. Country of Citizenship 

Government Use Only 

CBP Form I-94W (05/08) 

STAPLE HERE 

ENGLISH 

Prior to arrival in the United States, foreign 

nationals (except Canadian citizens and 

U.S. permanent residents) who are not 

in possession of a visitors visa and are 

entitled to the Visa Waiver Program are 

required to complete the I-94W form. One 

form is required for each family member. 

Customers should complete all personal 

and travel-related information included 

on the front side of the card. Please ensure 

that you answer all questions and sign and 

date where indicated on the back side of this 

form. All customers must provide a U.S. 

address for entry. 

Countries that are participants of 

the Visa Waiver Program are as follows: 

Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, 

Brunei, *Czech Republic, Denmark, 

*Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, 

*Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, 

*Latvia, Liechtenstein, *Lithuania, 

STAYING FIT: INFLIGHT FLEXIBILITY 

Knee Flexion: Lift knee toward 

chest, decreasing the amount of 

joint space at back of the knee. 

Repeat with other leg. 

Knee Extension: Straighten knee, 

increasing the amount of joint 

space at the back of the knee 

to its full range. Repeat with 

other leg. 

Luxembourg, *Malta, Monaco, the 

Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, 

Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, *Slovakia, 

Slovenia, *South Korea, Spain, Sweden, 

Switzerland, the United Kingdom. 

*Nationals of these countries must present 

an electronic (e-ppt) passport to be eligible 

for the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. 

Nationals of all Visa Waiver countries 

must present a machine-readable passport 

for the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. 


Antes de su llegada en los Estados Unidos, 

los ciudadanos extranjeros (excepto 

ciudadanos Canadienses y residentes 

permanentes de los Estados Unidos) que 

no tengan un visado de visita y se acojan 

al programa “Visa Waiver”, tienen que 

completar el formulario I-94W. Se requiere 

un formulario por cado miembro de 

familia. Los pasajeros deberán rellenar 

toda información tanto personal como 

relacionada con viajes en el anverso de la 

tarjeta. Por favor, asegúrese de contestar 

todas las preguntas , fi rmen y pongan la 

fecha en el lugar indicado en el formulario. 

Todos los pasajeros deben proporcionar una 

dirección en Estados Unidos para entrar 

al país. 

Los países que participan del 

Programa de exención de visas son los 

siguientes: Alemania. Andorra, Australia, 

Austria, Bélgica, Brunei, *Corea del Sur, 

Dinamarca, *Eslovaquia, Eslovenia, Espána, 

*Estonia, Finlandia, Francia, *Hungría, 

Irlanda, Islandia, Italia, Japón, *Letonia, 

Liechtenstein, * Lituania, Luxemburgo, 

*Malta, Mónaco, Noruega, Nueva Zelandia, 

Países Bajos, Portugal,*República Checa, 

San Marino, Singapur, Suecia, Suiza y el 

Reino Unido. 

*Los ciudadanos de estos países deben 

presentar un electrónicos (e-ppt) pasaporte 

para ser elegible para del Programa de 

exención de visas de Estados Unidos. 

Los ciudadanos de los demás países 

exentos de visas deben presentar un 

pasaporte de lectura electrónica en el marco 

del Programa de exención de visas de 

Estados Unidos a partir del 26 de octubre 

de 2004. 

1. Apellido 

2. Nombre 



Do any of the following apply to you? (Answer Yes or No) 

A. Do you have a communicable disease; physical or mental disorder, or are 

Yes No 

you a drug abuser or addict? 

B. Have you ever been arrested or convicted for an offense or crime involving 

Yes No 

moral turpitude or a violation related to a controlled substance; or been 

arrested or convicted for two or more offenses for which the aggregate 

sentence to confinement was five years or more; or been a controlled 

substance trafficker, or are you seeking entry to engage in criminal or 

immoral activities? 

C. Have you ever been or are you now involved in espionage or sabotage; or in 

Yes No 

terrorist activities; or genocide; or between 1933 and 1945 were involved, in 

any way, in persecutions associated with Nazi Germany or its allies? 

D. Are you seeking to work in the U.S.; or have ever been excluded and 

Yes No 

deported; or been previously removed from the United States; or procured 

or attempted to procure a visa or entry into the U.S. by fraud or 

misrepresentation? 

E. Have you ever detained, retained or withheld custody of a child from a U.S. 

Yes No 

citizen granted custody of the child? 

F. Have you ever been denied a U.S. visa or entry into the U.S. or had a U.S. 

Yes No 

visa cancelled? If yes, 

when? ______________________ where? _________________________ 

G. Have you ever asserted immunity from prosecution? 

Yes No 

IMPORTANT: If you answered “Yes” to any of the above, please contact the American Embassy 

BEFORE you travel to the U.S. since you may be refused admission into the United States. 

Family Name (Please print) First Name 

Country of Citizenship Date of Birth 

WAIVER OF RIGHTS: I hereby waive any rights to review or appeal of a U.S. Customs and Border 

Protection officer’s determination as to my admissibility, or to contest, other than on the basis of an 

application for asylum, any action in deportation. 

CERTIFICATION: I certify that I have read and understand all the questions and statements on this 

form. The answers I have furnished are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. 

Signature Date 

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: An agency may not conduct or sponsor an information 

collection and a person is not required to respond to this information unless it displays a current valid 

OMB control number. The control number for this collection is 1651-0111. The estimated average 

time to complete this application is 8 minutes per respondent. If you have any comments regarding the 

burden estimate you can write to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Asset Management, 1300 

Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20229 


Important – Retain this permit in your possession; you must surrender it when you leave the U.S. 

Failure to do so may delay your entry into the U.S. in the future. 

You are authorized to stay in the U.S. only until the date written on this form. To remain past this date, 

without permission from Department of Homeland Security authorities, is a violation of the law. 

Surrender this permit when you leave the U.S.: 

- By sea or air, to the transportation line; 

- Across the Canadian border, to a Canadian Official; 

- Across the Mexican border, to a U.S. Official. 

Warning: You may not accept unauthorized employment; or attend school; or represent the foreign 

information media during your visit under this program. You are authorized to stay in the U.S. for 90 

days or less. You may not apply for: 1) a change of nonimmigrant status; 2) adjustment of status to 

temporary or permanent resident, unless eligible under section 201(b) of the INA; or 3) an extension of 

stay. Violation of these terms will subject you to deportation. Any previous violation of this program, 

including having previously overstayed on this program without a proper DHS authorization, will 

result in a finding of inadmissibility as outlined in Section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. 

Port: 

Date: 

Carrier: 

Flight No./Ship Name: 

4. Nacionalidad 

5. Sexo (varón/hembra) 

6. Fecha de emisión del pasaporte 

7. Fecha de vencimiento del pasaporte 

8. Número de pasaporte 

9. Aerolínea y número de vuelo 

10. País de residencia 

11. País en el que abordó 

12. Direccion donde se quedará en los 

EE.UU (Número, calle) 

13. Ciudad y Estado 

14. Teléfono de contacto en EE.UU. 

15. Dirección de correo electrónico 


¿Le afecta alguna de estas restricciones a 

usted? (Conteste Si o No) 

A. ¿Padece usted de alguna enfermedad 

contagiosa, defi ciencia física o 

mental, o es adicto a las drogas? 

Sí / No 

B. ¿Ha sido usted arrestado o condenado 

Dorsifl exion: With heel on fl oor, point 

toes upward, decreasing the angle 

between the foot and front of the leg. 

Repeat with other foot. 

Plantar Flexion: Lift the heel and 

keep toes pointed toward the fl oor, 

increasing the angle between the top 

of the foot and front of the leg. Repeat 

with other foot. 


I-94 NONIMMIGRANT VISA WAIVER / BACK 

139 

por alguna infracción o delito de 

depravación moral; o por una violación 

relacionada con estupefacientes; 

arrestado o condenado por dos o más 

infracciones cuya sentencia total de 

reclusión fuera igual o superior a cinco 

años; ha sido trafi cante de estupefacientes, 

o pretende entrar en los Estados Unidos 

para realizar actividades criminales o 

inmorales? Sí / No 

C. ¿Ha estado o está implicado en actos 

de espionaje o sabotaje, actividades 

terroristas o genocidios; o participó 

de algún modo entre 1933 y 1945 

en persecuciones relacionadas con la 

Alemania nazi o sus aliados? 

Sí / No 

D. ¿Tiene intención de trabajar en los 

Estados Unidos; ha sido excluido o 

deportado; o ha sido expulsado de los 

Estados Unidos, o ha obtenido 

o intentado obtener un visado o la 

entrada a los Estados Unidos por 

medios fraudulentos o dando 

información falsa? Sí / No 

E. ¿Ha detenido, retenido, o impedido 

la custodia de un niño que corresponda 

legalmente a un ciudadano de los 

Estados Unidos? Sí / No 

F. ¿Se le ha cancelado o denegado 

alguna vez el visado o la entrada en los 

Estados Unidos? En caso afi rmitavo, 

especifi que? Sí / No 

¿Cúando? ¿Dónde? 

G. ¿Ha hecho valer alguna vez su 

inmunidad frente a un 

procesamiento? Sí / No 

IMPORTANTE: Si ha contestado 

afi rmativamente alguna de las preguntas, 

comuníquese con la Embajada de los Estados 

Unidos ANTES de su viaje, ya que se le puede 

denegar la entrada en los Estados Unidos. 

RENUNCIA DE DERECHOS: Por la presente 

renuncio el derecho a solicitar la revisión del 

Ofi cial de Inmigración acerca de mi admisión 

en los Estados Unidos, o a apelarla, o a 

impugnar cualquier acto de deportación que 

no sea por razón de una solicitud de asilo. 

DECLARACIÓN: Declaro que he leído y 

entendido todas las preguntas y enunciados 

enumerados en esta solicitud, y que las 

respuestas que he propocionado en este 

formulario son verdaderas y 

correctas a mi mejor saber y entender. 

Eversion: With foot on fl oor, 

gently roll the sole of the foot 

inward. Repeat with other foot. 

Inversion: With foot on fl oor, 

gently roll the sole of the foot 

outward. Repeat with other foot.

140 DECEMBER 2009 | UNITED.COM 

ACROSS 

1. Woolen cap 

4. Fairy-tale villain 

8. Long 

11. Consequently 

15. Bouquet 

17. A hot dog 

19. “Aquarius” musical 

21. Must have 

22. Haley’s 

23. Property divider 

24. Sweetbriar 

26. Adolescents 

27. Newly elected prime 

minister 

29. Carried 

30. Old gold coin 

32. Morning moisture 

33. Double-reed woodwind 

34. A meeting of a council, 

court or legislative body 

to conduct its business 

37. Moisten 

39. Slender tower with 

balconies 

43. Hooter 

44. Creative spark 

46. Map abbr. 

48. Poi source 

49. A type of society 

52. Irritate 

55. Fraternity letter 

58. Aggravate 

59. Fortifi ed 

60. High-speed 

transportation 

62. Express in words 

63. Chanel 

65. French farewell 

66. A type of effect 

68. Proportionately 

71. Jewel 

72. Part 

74. Clergyman 

75. A sound recording of the 

music in a fi lm 

77. Detective’s need 

78. Chapeau 

79. Patriotism 

83. Trinidadian dance that 

includes a horizontal pole 

87. It may be easily bruised 

88. Commodities 

89. Harp 

90. Mogul 

91. New money 

93. Freshly painted 

94. Pledge 

96. Bran source 

97. Backtrack 

100. Smooth fabric of silk or 

rayon 

104. Italian rice 

107. Uninteresting 

108. Big coffee holder 

109. “It’s a breeze!” 

110. Complain 

112. Organic chemical 

compound 

115. Highly skilled 

119. A high point 

121. Engrave in wood 

122. Free-for-all 

123. Gumbo ingredient 

124. Peter the Great, e.g. 

125. Link 

126. Rigatoni, e.g. 

127. Show’s partner 

128. Chapter in history 

129. Ninny 

130. Provoke 

DOWN 

1. Heavy reading? 

2. Improves 

3. Yankee’s import 

4. Ad-lib 

5. Outstanding 

6. Carry on 

7. Make secret 

8. Attention-getter 

9. Madly in love 

10. Engine need 

11. Implore 

12. Keep in check 

13. Heredity unit 

14. Poetic homage 

15. Make a scene? 

16. Delicacy 

18. Attuned 

20. Spiritual leader 

25. Midday 

28. Wonderment 

31. Spring 

33. Watch word? 

34. Couch 

35. Still-life subject 

36. Urban blight 

37. Get-out-of-jail money 

38. Refuse 

40. Dried grape 

41. Wandering 

42. Previously known as Edo 

45. Cousin of an ostrich 

47. Computer woe 

50. Designer’s concern 

51. Like fans 

CROSSWORD 

LAND OF THE RISING SUN 

IF YOU FILL IN THE CROSSWORD PLEASE TAKE THE MAGAZINE WITH 

YOU SO IT’S REPLACED. // ANSWERS FOUND ON P. 66 

ALL THEME CLUES ARE IN BOLD 

53. Wine holder 

54. National 

56. Gnat like insect 

57. Blip 

60. An automated program 

for doing a particular task 

61. Apropos 

64. Chocolate source 

67. Doc 

68. Annoy continually or 

chronically 

69. Comeback 

70. “All kidding ...” 

73. A Nightmare on 

Street 

74. Cry of approval 

76. Charges 

102. Plot of land 

BRUCE 

80. Spa handout 

103. Having an inset 

81. It’s pumped in a gym 

decorative pattern 

GREG 

82. Mermaid’s home 

105. Seafood entree 

BY 

84. Not worth debating 

106. Cry of dismay 

85. Water vessel 

109. Type of engineer 

86. Not fooled by 

110. Came alive 

90. Watered down 

111. Pitch 

92. Being of a specifi ed 

112. Like some doors 

CROSSWORD 

position in a numbered 113. Italian bread 

series 

114. Chocolate cookie 

95. Three-pronged spear 116. “So what is new?” 

PUZZLES 

98. Family member 

117. Favorite 

99. Chin indentation 

118. A type of ceremony 

101. Black-and-white sea 119. A clever remark 

bird 120. Exploit 

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142 DECEMBER 2009 | UNITED.COM 

SUDOKU 

THE NUMBERS GAME // BY REIKO MCLAUGHLIN 

QUIZ 

PRESENTS OF MIND 

SOMETIMES IT REALLY IS WHAT YOU KNOW // BY NOAH TARNOW 

1. HAPPY HOLIDAYS There’s a common theme in the answers to each of these 

questions. The answer is in the bonus question. 

A. The Grateful Dead and Adam and the Ants each employed two musicians 

playing what instrument? 

B. A kilt and a T-shirt bearing the phrase “Hot Rod” formed the costume of what 

notorious pro wrestling villain of the 1980s? 

C. In England, the Parliament Act of 1911 stripped most of the power from what 

legislative body? 

D. What 1980s movie was set in the early ’60s at a Catskills resort called 

Kellerman’s? 

E. During the 1996 presidential campaign, Bob Dole suggested that tobacco was 

no worse for you than what popular beverage? 

F. FOUR-PART QUESTION: Figure out what type of waterfowl is being described. 

1. Large, usually pure white and noted for its grace 

2. Larger than a duck with a long neck and a feathered head, traditionally eaten 

for a holiday meal 

3. A shorebird, stouter than a sandpiper and partially named for the yellow 

markings on its back 

4. Long-winged with webbed feet, seen as a scavenger on shores; noted for its 

loud, plaintive call 

G. What popular dish is referred to in its native country as pain perdu, literally 

“lost bread”? 

H. First appearing in a 1984 black-and-white comic book, Donatello, Raphael, 

Leonardo and Michelangelo were better know as what? 

I. What musical TV comedy of the 1970s featured a stepmother and stepson 

playing actual mother and son? 

BONUS: What well known song is the unifying theme of the answers to these 

questions? 

2. SURELY YOU JEST Name the stand-up comics famous for the following witticisms. 

A. “There are four-hundred-thousand words in the English language, and there are 

seven you can’t say on television. What a ratio—they must be baaad words.” 

B. “It’s not easy being me. I was gonna jump off my roof, so they called a priest to 

talk to me. He said, ‘On your mark…’” 

C. “If you owe the taxidermist more than your annual income…. If someone asked 

to see your ID and you showed them your belt-buckle…” 

D. “My four-year-old came down for breakfast and asked for chocolate cake. But 

then I looked at the ingredients. Eggs, milk, wheat—that’s nutrition!” 

ANSWERS 

ANSWERS: 1. A. DRUMS B. “ROWDY” RODDY PIPER C. HOUSE OF LORDS D. DIRTY DANCING E. 

MILK. F. 1. SWAN 2. GOOSE 3. GOLDEN PLOVER 4. GULL G. FRENCH TOAST H. TEENAGE MUTANT 

NINJA TURTLES I. THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY BONUS: “THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS.” 2. A. 

GEORGE CARLIN B. RODNEY DANGERFIELD C. JEFF FOXWORTHY D. BILL COSBY. 

1. 2. 3. 

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145


146 

WHO / STACEY PENNINGTON 

39 / Chef 

WHY I’M TRAVELING / I’m going 

home to Switzerland. I 

grew up in Chicago and just 

moved to Europe with my 

husband a few months ago, 

so I needed to pick up all of 

my stuff. My parents don’t 

actually know that I’m 

married. They would panic 

at the idea. 

INFLIGHT RITUAL / I have to 

have a cocktail, and when 

I’m on the plane I need 

something cozy to wrap up 

in. My essentials are my 

sweater, scarf, eye mask 

and socks. People think 

I’m trying to be glamorous 

when I wear this dress, but 

it’s just like pajamas. 

WHAT I’M INTO / I’m on the 

hunt for the perfect salt 

right now. Everywhere 

I go, I pick up all kinds of 

sea salts and rock salts. 

It’s really the key to a 

great meal. 

BY ADAM K. RAYMOND 

in transit 

GETTING TO KNOW YOU 

“ People think 

I’m trying to be 

glamorous, but 

this dress is just 

like pajamas.” 

PHOTOGRAPH BY SPENCER HEYFRON

UNITED ECONOMY - NORTH AMERICA 

SNACKBOXES AVAILABLE ALL DAY ON FLIGHTS OVER 2 HOURS 

ACTIVE $5 

Stoned Classics Tortilla 

Chips • Heinz Salsa • Blue 

Diamond Almonds • Think Fruit 

Chocolate Pomegranate Power 

Bar • Newman’s Own Organic 

Raisins • Hannah’s Honey 

Cured Turkey Stick 

À LA CARTE $3 AVAILABLE ALL DAY ON FLIGHTS OVER 2 HOURS 

Lay’s Stax Potato Chips 

Toblerone Chocolate Bar 

Walkers Shortbread Cookies 

PREMIUM COCKTAILS $8 

Trader Vic’s Mai Tai 

(served on Hawaii flights to/from the mainland) 

Jose Cuervo Margarita 

SPIRITS $6 

Bacardi Rum 

Canadian Club Reserve Whisky 

Dewar’s White Label Scotch 

Finlandia Vodka 

Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey 

Jim Beam Black Bourbon Whiskey 

Tanqueray Gin 

spinach salad 

CLASSIC $6 

Kettle Backyard BBQ Chips • 

Oreo Cookies • Jelly Belly 

Gourmet Jelly Beans • Pepperidge 

Farm Goldfish Crackers • Sparrer 

Beef Salami • Gourmet Cheddar 

Cheese Spread • Pepperidge 

Farm Crackers 

PREMIUM SPIRITS $8 

Glenlivet Single Malt Scotch Whisky 

Level Vodka 

Maker’s Mark Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky 

Fisher Salty Nut Mix 

Clif Bar Oatmeal Raisin Walnut 

SPIRITS, WINE and BEER AVAILABLE ON ALL FLIGHTS, ALL DAY 

Alcohol may be served to customers over 21 only. By FAA rule, we may not 

serve alcohol to customers who appear intoxicated. Customers are limited 

to one alcoholic beverage at a time during service. Only alcohol provided 

by United and served by flight attendants may be consumed onboard. 

WELCOME ABOARD! 

We are pleased to offer Choice Menu meal and snack 

selections for purchase. Enjoy the service and thank you 

for flying with United. 

LUXE $7 

Rondelé Peppercorn Parmesan 

Cheese Spread • Pepperidge Farm 

Crackers • Food Should Taste Good 

Multigrain Tortilla Chips • Oloves 

Mediterranean or Vinaigrette Olives • 

Wild Garden Hummus Dip • Real 

Torino Sesame Breadsticks • Asher’s 

Dark Chocolate Pretzel 

ORGANIC $7 

Late July Organic Cheddar 

Cheese Crackers • Terra Nostra 

Organic Dark Chocolate Square • 

Kettle Valley Organic Fruit Snack • 

Nature’s Path Organic Pumpkin 

Flaxplus Granola • Bare Fruit 

Organic Cinnamon Apple Chips 

Odwalla Banana Nut Nutritional Bar 

mySmoothie Fruit Smoothie Beverage 

LIQUEURS $6 

Bailey’s Irish Cream 

Courvoisier VSOP Cognac 

Kahlúa 

PREMIUM WINE $7 - $8 

RED - Cheviot Bridge Shiraz 2008 South Eastern Australia $7 

WHITE - Cheviot Bridge Chardonnay 2008 Adelaide Hills Australia $7 

SPARKLING - J.P. Chenet Brut Blanc de Blancs nv France $8 

WINE $6 

RED - Redwood Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 California 

WHITE - Redwood Creek Chardonnay 2007 California 

PREMIUM BEER $7 

Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat Beer 

BEER $6 

Miller Genuine Draft 

Miller Lite 

PAYMENT 

EasyPurchase 

Only credit/debit cards are accepted.

CONTEMPORARY 

American Cuisine 

Premium inflight dining 

with a modern twist... 

With a new food philosophy centered around contemporary American 

cuisine, United’s premium onboard dining is being elevated to new 

heights. Along with our culinary partners Charlie Trotter, Trader Vic’s, 

and Master Sommelier Doug Frost, we’re offering traditional dishes 

with a modern twist, while also offering regional and ethnic items. The 

new menu is built around fresh, local, ingredients whenever possible, 

combined in innovative new offerings. 

CHARLIE TROTTER Charlie Trotter’s namesake Chicago establishment is one of the 

world’s most-awarded restaurants, having been named, among others, “The Best 

Restaurant in the World for Wine & Food” (Wine Spectator, 1998), and “Outstanding 

Restaurant” (The James Beard Foundation, 2000). Restaurant Magazine has voted 

it one of the “World’s 50 Best Restaurants” every year since 2004. Chef Trotter has 

designed a new menu especially for United, available on most United First ® and United 

Business ® outbound international flights. 

TRADER VIC’S Selections from the legendary Trader Vic’s will be available in United 

First and United Business class on many of our Pacific and Asian routes and on 

United First class between Hawaii and the mainland. On any given flight you could 

enjoy items like Sesame Pink Peppercorn Salmon with Lime Leaf Beurre Blanc Sauce, 

or Chicken with Shiitake Mushrooms in Mango Chili Stir Fry. 

DOUG FROST United has partnered with world renowned Master Sommelier and Master 

of Wine, Doug Frost, to supply the perfect selections for all of our new menu offerings. 

On selected intra-Pacific flights 

originating from Japan, enjoy a Trader 

Vic’s meal in United First or Business. 

Coke Diet Coke Sprite Sprite Zero Ginger Ale 

Starbucks Coffee Bloody Mary Mix Apple & Tomato Juices Spring Water 

BEVERAGES 

RELAX WITH YOUR FAVORITE DRINK. Beverage 

service is available on most United flights. Alcoholic 

beverage selections vary according to cabin class 

and international or domestic flight status. Alcoholic 

beverages are available for $6 – $8 on most flights. 

NONALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WINES 

UNITED FIRST AND UNITED BUSINESS (DOMESTIC) 

You will be offered a choice of red and white wines. 

Selections may include the following: 

RED 

 

 

WHITE 

 

 

SELECT UNITED FIRST AND UNITED BUSINESS 

(DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL) 

SPARKLING WINE 

 

UNITED ECONOMY ® ALL FLIGHTS 

 

 

 

UNITED ECONOMY PREMIUM WINES (DOMESTIC ONLY) 

 

Adelaide Hills Australia 

 

 

Sparkling Wine 

UNITED FIRST AND UNITED BUSINESS FLIGHTS 

Please refer to the printed menu. 

COCKTAILS, BEER, SPIRITS, LIQUEURS 

UNITED ECONOMY PREMIUM COCKTAIL (DOMESTIC ONLY) 

COCKTAIL 

 

UNITED FIRST, UNITED BUSINESS AND UNITED ECONOMY 

BEER 

 

 

 

Beer offerings are subject to availability. A selection of regional 

beers is offered on some International flights. 

SPIRITS 

 

 

(internationally premium cabins only) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LIQUEURS 

 

 

 

ONLY ON INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS 

 

 

 

Alcohol may be served to customers over 21 only. By FAA 

rule, we may not serve alcohol to customers who appear 

intoxicated. Customers are limited to one alcoholic beverage 

at a time during service. Only alcohol provided by United and 

served by flight attendants may be consumed onboard.

BREAKFAST ON FLIGHTS OVER 3 HOURS DEPARTING BEFORE 10 AM 

BREAKFAST MUFFIN $3 

Delicious blueberry or cinnamon crumb cake muffins. Selections may vary. 

FRUIT AND YOGURT PARFAIT $5 

Low fat vanilla yogurt served with fruit and a side of granola. 

CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST $5 

French toast flavored bagel, cream cheese, Smuckers strawberry jam and Upstate 

Farms strawberry yogurt. 

HAM AND SWISS CROISSANT $5 

Flavorful ham and swiss cheese on a croissant with dijonnaise sauce (served cold). 

LUNCH/DINNER ON FLIGHTS OVER 3 HOURS DEPARTING BETWEEN 10 AM - 8 PM 

ASSORTED CHEESE TRAY $6 

Specially selected cheeses including monterey jack, havarti dill and cheddar, 

dried cranberries, almonds and assorted Pepperidge Farm crackers. 

ANTIPASTO PLATE $7 

Sliced salami, mozzarella cheese, havarti dill cheese, Mediterranean or 

Vinaigrette olives and Grissini Torino breadsticks. 

ROAST BEEF SANDWICH $9 

Tasty roast beef topped with crisp romaine lettuce and horseradish 

mayonnaise on ciabatta bread, accompanied by Kettle Classics potato chips. 

TURKEY SANDWICH $9 

Tender smoked turkey topped with crisp romaine lettuce and sundried 

tomato aioli sauce on multigrain bread, accompanied by Kettle Classics 

potato chips. 

THAI CHICKEN WRAP $9 

Grilled chicken breast, romaine lettuce, julienned carrots, red and yellow 

bell pepper strips and thai aioli sauce wrapped in a tortilla, accompanied by 

Kettle Classics potato chips. 

SPINACH SALAD $9 

A vegetarian delight of fresh spinach, blue cheese crumbles, dried 

cranberries and walnut halves, served with balsamic vinaigrette dressing and 

croutons on the side. 

CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD $9 

Grilled chicken, red and yellow bell pepper strips, shredded parmesan 

cheese on a bed of crisp romaine lettuce, served with classic caesar 

dressing and croutons on the side. 

United does not serve peanuts as snacks or use peanuts or peanut oils in foods 

served on our flights. However, we do serve vendor products manufactured in 

facilities that also produce items containing peanuts or peanut oils, and we do 

have snack mixes that contain other tree nuts, such as almonds and pistachios. 

fruit and yogurt y g parfait p 

chicken caesar salad turkey y sandwich 

antipasto p plate p 

Your feedback is welcomed via ualsurvey.com within seven days of your 

flight. United, Choice Menu, and EasyPurchase are trademarks of United. All 

other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 

We apologize if your selection is not available on today’s flight.

Sony ® 

Digital Noise Canceling 

headphones reduce 99% of 

ambient noise. 

NC500D 

The world’s first digital noise canceling headphones, by Sony ® 

. In an independent, blind test, 

frequent business travelers rated them #1 twice as often as either the Bose ® 

QC 2 or QC 3 

in overall noise cancellation and audio quality. Learn why digital noise canceling is better at 

sony.com/headphones 

© 2009 Sony Electronics Inc. Sony and the Sony logo are trademarks of Sony. Bose, QC are trademarks of Bose Corp.

december-2009

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